De Gozaru

[rajs20]

I was watching a japanese video lately (made in the 80's, I think) and I noticed a shopkeeper saying things like "hassen en de gozaimasu", i.e. "it's 8000 yen"... However, I thought "de gozaru" was from olden times, don't people today just use "desu" all the time? If not, then where is "de gozaru" applicable, is it just something shopkeepers are likely to say, kind of like "irasshaimase"?

Thanks!

Raj

 

[Buntaro]

"de gozaru" is very very very polite. It is almost too polite. The only time I ever heard it was on TV, spoken by the host of the TV show. I doubt you would ever hear it from a shopkeeper.

Has anyone else heard "de gozaru" on a regular basis?

 

[nhk9]

"de gozaimasu" is often used as "kenjou-go", or humble-honorific, within the business circles. The plain form "de gozaru" is more often used in jidai-geki dramas, and is not often heard in daily modern speech. The plain form might be used more often in some dialects, but I am not too sure about that. One thing for certain is that the plain form is not used often (if at all) in standard modern Japanese.

P.S. gozaru is the kenjou-go of "aru', to exist. So basically "de gozaru" is really "de aru", which is equivalent to the copula "da".

 

[rajs20]

Cool, thanks for the info