92867
I saw in Sekiro that some characters are using humble verbs like 参る but in
their plain form.

What's the point of this?

Would anyone actually use a humble verb without the polite ending in real
life?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-06T21:07:33.080
92865
2022-01-07T02:24:08.653
50171
question
keigo
Humble verbs in plain form
Plain form honorifics can be used to show respect towards someone when you
don't necessarily need to be polite. This sounds counterintuitive, but I
actually encountered a great example of this in a game stream (for the Outer
Wilds) last night that illustrates it really well.

Context: In the game you play as an explorer who discovers a dead alien race.

The streamer used 死んでいらしゃった when talking about the aliens.

He used honorific language to show respect towards the dead race who was more
advanced than us. But since he was talking to himself / the streaming audience
he used plain form.

In short: Honorific form usage is determined by who you're talking about.
Polite form usage is determined by who you're talking to.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-06T23:06:18.347
92866
2022-01-06T23:15:12.147
2022-01-06T23:15:12.147
25783
25783
92865
answer
That is a signature speech style of samurai and ninja depicted in modern
fiction. They also typically speak like ～でござる, which is a plain form of
～でございます. I think there are several reasons they speak like this.

  * Stereotypical samurai are loyal, but reticent, proud and dignified at the same time. They don't have to be very polite like a servant or a butler.
  * ます as a politeness marker derived several hundreds years ago as a contraction of まゐらす (see [this](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99#Etymology_1)). です derived from でございます. Therefore, ます/です was not the most polite style in the age of samurai. In samurai dramas, we hear peasants and merchants say ます/です often, but people with high social status seldom use them, especially when they speak formally.
  * Last but not least, if that 参る was said before a battle, who wants to speak politely in a battlefield?

This type of 参る is used also by a proud Western knight before a duel. ござる is
almost specific to samurai/ninja.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-07T00:47:25.837
92867
2022-01-07T02:24:08.653
2022-01-07T02:24:08.653
5010
5010
92865
answer