Kenjōgo (謙譲語): Humble Language for Lowering Yourself to Elevate Others
Kenjōgo (謙譲語) is Japanese humble language. A speaker lowers their own action so the person the action reaches, or the person they are speaking to, is positioned higher in words.1 It is one half of the referent-honorific system, which marks respect toward the person being talked about. It is the mirror image of Sonkeigo (尊敬語), which raises the other person directly instead.1
Overview
Where sonkeigo elevates someone else's action, kenjōgo works from the speaker's side. Both show deference to a higher-standing party, but by opposite means.1
The 2007 『敬語の指針』 classifies modern keigo into five types (五種類): 尊敬語, 謙譲語Ⅰ, 謙譲語Ⅱ（丁重語）, 丁寧語, and 美化語.1 In that scheme, the single label "kenjōgo" covers two of the five types. They do genuinely different work.
Most English-language introductions treat humble language as one undivided category. The 答申 splits it into 謙譲語Ⅰ (humbling toward a recipient you wish to raise) and 謙譲語Ⅱ, also called 丁重語 (formal modesty toward the listener, with no one raised). Confusing the two is the most common keigo error this article corrects.1
Where kenjōgo sits in the keigo system
The 答申 (official report) defines the respectful pole, sonkeigo, as language that raises 「相手側又は第三者の行為・ものごと・状態など」, the other person's or a third party's action.1 Kenjōgo instead operates on the speaker's own action. The two are complementary directions, never interchangeable.1
The 答申 describes this raising with the cover term 「立てる」. It glosses it as 「言葉の上で人物を高く位置付けて述べる」, to position a person highly in words.1 This wording is deliberate: it names a linguistic function without claiming anything about the speaker's inner feeling.
In the linguistics literature, these referent honorifics index the relative standing of speaker, referent, and addressee. In Japanese, their selection is strongly governed by social discernment (wakimae): an obligatory, situation-determined choice rather than a free strategic one.2 The humble subsystem expresses deference by lowering the speaker, or the speaker's in-group, relative to the honored party.3
Cook cautions that referent honorifics do not map neatly onto politeness. In real institutional talk, they can also index on-stage versus off-stage footing and institutional identity, not respect alone.4
The 2007 MEXT reform: from three categories to five
The 『敬語の指針』 was issued as a 文化審議会 答申 (advisory-council report) on 2 February 2007 (平成19年).1 The five-category scheme dates from that report. The 2007 date is the explicit maintenance trigger for this distinction.
The reform refined the older three-category school scheme of 尊敬語・謙譲語・丁寧語. It did not reject it. The 答申 states that the new scheme 「従来の考え方と対立するものではない」, it does not conflict with the traditional view.5 It splits the group formerly lumped as 謙譲語 into 謙譲語Ⅰ and 謙譲語Ⅱ. It also splits the group formerly lumped as 丁寧語 into 丁寧語 and 美化語.5
The reason was a documented change in usage. The 答申 explains that verbs traditionally treated as 謙譲語, such as 参る and 申す, had drifted from raising the action's destination toward simply expressing 「相手に対する丁重な気持ち」, a courteous feeling toward the listener, and that this usage was becoming further established.1
The 答申's worked example is the verb 行く (to go). Both 伺う and 参る are humble equivalents of 行く, and they were traditionally grouped together. The reform assigns 伺う to 謙譲語Ⅰ and 参る to 謙譲語Ⅱ.5
The document is published by 文化庁, the Agency for Cultural Affairs. It is associated with MEXT (Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) because the 文化審議会 reports to that minister. Throughout the report, 謙譲語Ⅱ always appears with the alternative label 丁重語 (teichōgo).6
Kenjōgo I (謙譲語Ⅰ): humbling yourself toward a recipient
謙譲語Ⅰ is the recipient-directed type: it points toward someone who receives or is affected by the action. The action runs from the speaker's side toward a specific person. That person is the one raised in words.7
The mechanism: lower your own action to elevate the person it reaches
The 答申 defines 謙譲語Ⅰ as language about 「自分側から相手側又は第三者に向かう行為・ものごと」, an action from the speaker's side directed at another party. It raises 「その向かう先の人物」, the person it is directed at.7 The example verbs printed in the report are 伺う, 申し上げる, お目に掛かる, 差し上げる, お届けする, and 御案内する.7
先生のところに伺いたいんですが……。7
"I'd like to come and see you, Professor……"
Here, 行く (to go and visit) is replaced by 伺う specifically to raise 先生, the destination of the visit.
A productive pattern for this type is 「お(ご)……する」: お届けする, 御案内する, お持ちする. These are 謙譲語Ⅰ when the raised person is the destination or beneficiary of the action.7
あ、先生、そのかばん、私がお持ちします。7
"Oh, Professor, let me carry that bag."
The verb いただく also belongs to 謙譲語Ⅰ, and it adds a nuance the others lack: a benefit received 「恩恵を受けるという意味も併せて表す」.7
先生に指導していただく。7
"I have the professor instruct me."
Why the recipient must exist
謙譲語Ⅰ requires a 向かう先, a destination person, who is 「立てるのにふさわしい」, worthy of being raised in words. Without such a person, the form is wrong. The 答申's own contrast makes this concrete.
先生のところに伺います。8
"I will visit you, Professor."
弟のところに伺います。8
"I will visit my younger brother."
The first is natural. The 答申 marks the second as 不自然 (unnatural). The reason it gives: 先生 is a fitting target to raise, while 弟 is not.8
The 向かう先 is not only a physical destination, such as someone's office or home. The 答申 extends it to source-type relations seen from the receiving side. In 「先生からお借りする」 and 「先生からいただく」, 先生 still counts as the 向かう先 because the borrowing or receiving is directed at them.7
The humbled actor is usually 自分 or someone on the speaker's own side. It may also be a third party or even the addressee, as long as the 向かう先 outranks the actor and the actor is someone it would not be rude to leave unraised.7
息子が先生のところに伺いまして……。7
"My son went to see you, Professor, and……"
The humbled actor is 息子, the speaker's in-group member. The raised party is still the destination, 先生.
Kenjōgo II / Teichōgo (謙譲語Ⅱ・丁重語): formal modesty with no recipient
謙譲語Ⅱ is the courteous type, also called 丁重語 (teichōgo). The speaker presents their own action modestly to the listener as general formality. There is no honored target in the action itself.6
The mechanism: modesty toward the listener, not toward the action's target
The 答申 defines 謙譲語Ⅱ as language that states 「自分側の行為・ものごとなど」, the speaker's own action, 「話や文章の相手に対して丁重に述べる」, in a courteous way toward the listener or reader.6 The printed example verbs are 参る, 申す, いたす, and おる, plus the written nouns 拙著 and 小社.6 The deference target is the addressee (相手), not the action's destination: 「『参る』は＜相手＞に対する敬語として働く」.6
明日から海外へ参ります。6
"I will be going abroad starting tomorrow."
行く is replaced by 参る only to address the listener courteously. No one is raised.
The clearest proof that no person is being honored is that 謙譲語Ⅱ can attach to subjects with no status at all.
あ、バスが参りました。6
"Ah, the bus has arrived."
夜も更けて参りました。6
"The night has grown late."
A bus and the passing of night are not people, so they have no status to defer to. The courtesy flows to the listener.
The type also has noun forms, used mainly in writing.
拙著6
"my book" (humble)
Why these verbs feel different from Ⅰ
謙譲語Ⅱ almost always pairs with ます, the polite verb ending. The 答申 notes that 謙譲語Ⅰ can be used without ます (明日先生のところに伺う(よ)。 to a non-honored listener). By contrast, 謙譲語Ⅱ is 「一般に『ます』を伴って」, generally used with ます, and 明日先生のところに参る(よ)。 is 不自然.8
謙譲語Ⅱ also cannot honor a third party or the addressee. Because 謙譲語Ⅱ is reserved for 自分側 actions, the 答申 marks 参る as 不適切 (inappropriate) when it is applied to the listener's action or an exalted person's action.6
先生は来週海外へ参ります。6
"The professor will go abroad next week."
This is the standard misuse the distinction corrects: 参る cannot describe the honored 先生's own action, so the sentence is flagged 不適切.6
Because both 謙譲語Ⅱ and 丁寧語 target the 相手, 謙譲語Ⅱ is closer to です・ます than to 謙譲語Ⅰ. The difference is that 謙譲語Ⅱ is restricted to 自分側 content and is more 改まった (formal) than plain です・ます. It is on a par with でございます.9
Nuance and usage contexts
Choosing Ⅰ vs Ⅱ in practice
The 答申 gives a single test: 謙譲語Ⅰ is honorific toward the 向かう先, while 謙譲語Ⅱ is honorific toward the 相手. The two 「性質が異なる」, their natures differ.8 One question separates them: is there a person whom the action is directed at and whom you want to raise? If yes, Ⅰ is available. If the form is pure formal self-lowering to the listener with no such target, it is Ⅱ.
The two categories can overlap. When a fitting 向かう先 exists, both forms can appear. But they do different work.
先生のところに参ります。8
"I will go to the professor's place."
Spoken to a third-party listener, 参ります defers to that listener, not to 先生. 伺います would instead raise 先生.8 The 答申 notes that when the action's 向かう先 and the conversation's 相手 are the same person, 謙譲語Ⅰ and 謙譲語Ⅱ can be used in effectively the same way.8 That overlap is why the two have always looked alike.
Kenjōgo and the in-group / out-group axis
The 答申 builds the in-group idea directly into both definitions. Humble forms describe 「自分側」 actions. The report defines 自分側 as 自分 plus 「自分の側の人物」, the people on one's own side, such as 息子 in the examples above.76 When speaking to outsiders, you humble your own side, including family or company members.
In the linguistics literature, this lowering of the self or in-group relative to an out-group referent is the standard description of the Japanese humble subsystem.3 Its selection is largely obligatory and situation-bound (discernment), not freely strategic.2
The 答申 itself uses 自分側 and 相手側, not uchi and soto. The familiar uchi (in-group) and soto (out-group) labels are an overlay from the linguistics literature, not terms the 2007 report uses. Treat the two vocabularies as compatible, but do not attribute the terms uchi/soto to the 答申.3
Where kenjōgo overlaps and clashes with sonkeigo
The 答申 states a hard rule: 謙譲語Ⅱ used for 「『相手側』の行為や『立てるべき人物』の行為」, the listener's action or an exalted person's action, is 不適切.6 Do not describe the listener's action with a humble form. Sonkeigo is the form built for exactly that direction.1
A related structural error is 二重敬語, stacking the same kind of keigo twice on one word. The 答申 calls it 「一般に適切ではない」, generally not appropriate.10
One genuinely dual form does exist, however. The 「お(ご)……いたす」 pattern is both 謙譲語Ⅰ and 謙譲語Ⅱ at once: 「『謙譲語Ⅰ』兼『謙譲語Ⅱ』」.11
駅で先生をお待ちいたします。11
"I will wait for you at the station, Professor."
The お待ちする part raises 先生 (Ⅰ). The いたす part defers to the 相手 (Ⅱ). Both functions happen in one verb.
Good to know
おる: humble verb versus western-dialect plain verb
The 答申 lists おる as a 謙譲語Ⅱ verb, the humble equivalent of いる (to be, to exist). As a humble form, it is normally bound to ます (おります), in line with the 謙譲語Ⅱ requirement for ます.68
Plain おる also survives as an ordinary existential verb across much of western Japan. There, it carries no humble force at all. The surface form is the same, but the register is opposite. 会社におります is courteous standard speech, while bare 会社におる is western-dialect plain speech rather than Tokyo standard.12
Why "humble" undersells 謙譲語Ⅱ
The English label "humble" can mislead for 謙譲語Ⅱ. The 答申's definition contains no notion of lowering oneself before a person of higher status. It is 「丁重に述べる」, speaking courteously to the addressee.6 That is why the report renames it 丁重語 (courteous language) and reserves the third-party-raising sense for 謙譲語Ⅰ.6
The diagnostic proof is the inanimate subject, a subject that is not a person or living agent. 謙譲語Ⅱ attaches to things with no status to defer to, such as バスが参りました and 夜も更けて参りました.6 A form that can apply to a bus is showing courtesy toward the listener, not self-abasement. The linguistics literature makes the same separation. An indexical account is needed to tell referent-directed deference apart from addressee-directed courtesy.34
The 〜させていただく overextension
According to the 答申, 「(お・ご)……(さ)せていただく」 is properly licensed only when both conditions hold: you act with the other party's permission, and you receive a benefit from doing so.13 The report grades real uses by acceptability. At one end is 「コピーを取らせていただけますか。」, where both conditions are met. At the other are self-introduction uses like 「○○高校を卒業させていただきました。」, where neither holds and the form is often inappropriate.13
The drift the 答申 identifies is a make-believe extension (見立て). Speakers use the form as if permission and benefit existed, even when they do not. That pretense is what has widened its range: 「満たしているかのように見立てて使う用法があり，それが……使用域を広げている」.13
See also
- Asymmetric Keigo: Humbling Your Own Boss (Uchi-Soto)
- How to Choose the Right Keigo Level: A Practical Guide
- Keigo Grammar Overview: How to Conjugate Honorific, Humble, and Polite Verbs
- Japanese Speech Levels: Plain, Polite, Formal, and Literary Register