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> **Possible Duplicate:**  
>  [～うございます - keigo
> い-adjectives](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/765/keigo-
> adjectives)

I still remember the introductory lecture of the first Japanese course I took
in college, my sensei told the class that おはようございます does not mean "good
morning" but it is actually derived from はやいです which simply means "it is
early".

Some time later, I've been told that this honorific formation of i-adjectives
is not restricted to はやい only, but can be applied to any i-adjectives. I've
not been told how though.

I'm assuming that for any i-adjectives that end with X-ai, they become o-X-ou:

> はやい → おはよう  
>  たかい → おたこう

But what about adjectives that end with -ui, -ii etc? Turning them into -ou
does not sound right. For example:

> さむい → おさもう?  
>  たのしい → おたのしょう?  
>  おおきい → おおおこう? [triple お]

What are the rules for turning i-adjectives into honorific form? And also, are
this honorific still in use today and in what kind of scenarios?
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2011-08-11T13:02:42.903
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2012-01-14T10:03:11.460
2017-04-13T12:43:44.740
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question
honorifics i-adjectives
Honorific form of i-adjectives (e.g. はやい → おはよう)
These forms are archaic in Tokyo except for a few fixed expressions like
`おやようございます`, but may be observed in Kyoto. You attach `-u ございます` to the
adjective root. The polite prefix `お` is optional. As you wondered, it is
probably unnatural to attach `お` for `おおきい` because of so may consecutive
`お`s.

>   * [adjective root] + u gozaimasu  
>  さむうございます
>

Depending on the final vowel of the adjective root, there is a sound change.

>   * au → ou (→ oo)  
>  はようございます, たこうございます  
>
>   * iu → yuu  
>  たのしゅうございます, おおきゅうございます  
>
>
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2011-08-11T13:49:22.020
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2011-08-11T15:24:28.780
2011-08-11T15:24:28.780
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answer