Japanese Honorifics Quiz | Direction of Deference, Possessions, and Third-Party Actions, Advanced Set 5

「お名前」 is a respectful expression that elevates the customer as the owner of the name. Respectful language can elevate not only the person performing an action but also the owner of something, as in 「先生のお名前」, or the person in a particular state, as in 「お忙しい」. It differs from beautifying language according to whether it elevates a specific owner.

In 「先生からのお手紙」, the letter came from the teacher, so the expression is respectful language that elevates the sender. In 「先生へのお手紙」, the letter goes from the speaker's side to the teacher, so it is humble language type I that elevates the addressee. The same form 「お手紙」 can therefore have different functions depending on the direction of the letter.

「私がお持ちします」 is humble language type I: the staff member performs the act of carrying for the guest, and the expression elevates the guest as the beneficiary. The “target” of humble language type I is not limited to a physical destination; it also includes the person affected by or benefiting from the act. 「お持ちになります」 is respectful language for the guest's own action, so it does not fit with 「私」 as the subject.

The dictionary physically moves from the teacher to the student, making the teacher its source. From the borrower's perspective, however, the teacher is the person toward whom the act of borrowing is directed. 「先生からお借りする」 can therefore function as humble language type I that elevates the teacher. The particle 「から」 alone does not determine the direction of deference.

「息子が先生のところへ伺います」 is appropriate. Humble language type I can ordinarily describe not only the speaker's own action but also that of someone on the speaker's side, such as a family member. 「伺う」 elevates the homeroom teacher as the destination of the visit. 「いらっしゃる」 and 「お越しになる」 are respectful forms that elevate the actor, so they do not fit the speaker's own son here.

Humble language type I normally describes an action from the speaker's side toward the listener's side or a third party, but it can sometimes describe a third party's action. Here Professor Sato is the destination who should be elevated, while not elevating Mr. Tanaka above their shared teacher is not disrespectful in this context. Because both conditions are met, 「伺った」 can elevate Professor Sato.

「お待ちいたす」 is formed by replacing 「する」 in the humble type I form 「お待ちする」 with the humble type II verb 「いたす」. 「お待ちする」 elevates the customer as the person toward whom the waiting is directed, while 「いたす」 presents the act formally to the listener. The expression therefore combines the functions of humble language types I and II.

「小社」 is a humble language type II noun that presents the speaker's own company formally to the listener. Humble language type II includes not only verbs such as 「参る」 and 「申す」 but also nouns such as 「小社」 and 「拙著」. It is neither humble language type I that elevates the target of an action nor respectful language that elevates the speaker's company.

To express the meaning of “noun + だ” while elevating the person described by the noun, the form is “noun + でいらっしゃる”. Therefore, 「努力家でいらっしゃいます」 is appropriate. 「努力家でございます」 is polite toward the listener but does not itself function as respectful language elevating the guest. Respectful language can describe a person's qualities and states as well as actions.

「届ける」 has a recipient, so 「顧客へ資料をお届けする」 is valid humble language type I that elevates the customer as the action's target. In these contexts, 「食べる」, 「乗車する」, and 「起きる」 do not have a person toward whom the action is directed. A speaker cannot form 「お食べする」, 「御乗車する」, or 「お起きする」 merely because the action is the speaker's own.