"Formal" Japanese and "honorific" Japanese, are completely different, right?


My understanding is that, strictly speaking, "honorific" Japanese 敬語{けいご} is
completely different from "formal" Japanese 丁寧語{ていねいご}. Yet, I sometimes hear
even native speakers conflate them:

ex:  
「する」の尊敬語{そんけいご} --->「なさる」  
「する」の丁寧語 --->「します」  
「する」の謙譲語{けんじょうご} ---> 「いたす」

「書く{かく}」の尊敬語 ---> 「お書きになる」  
「書く」の丁寧語 --->「書きます」  
「書く」の謙譲語 --->「お書きいたす」

formal (not honorific) escalation:「だ」-->「です」-->「である」-->「であります」  
honorific (not formal) escalation:「です」 -->「でございまさう」

Strictly speaking, am I right about this? But, is the reality that the usage
of honorifics necessarily means you are speaking formally? For years now, I've
heard the phrases "honorific Japanese", and "formal Japanese", often used
interchangeably. Isn't there a distinct difference?

Indeed, I've read a little Mishima, and he writes formally, but not
honorifically. So, there must be a clean difference, and it's just that some
people carelessly interchange those two phrases, right?




**尊敬語** is when the subject of the sentence is shown respect.

**謙譲語** is when the subject of the sentence is being humbled.

**丁寧語** is when the addressee is being shown respect.

(Note that the subject is often not explicitly in the sentence.)

From the definitions, it should be clear that it is possible to combine 尊敬語
and 丁寧語, or 謙譲語 and 丁寧語, but not 尊敬語 and 謙譲語 (in a single clause). So, to
answer one of your questions regarding なさる & なさいます, the former is 尊敬語, while
the latter is both 尊敬語 and 丁寧語.

Regarding how to classify 丁寧語, most people consider it to be a kind of 敬語 (for
example, [大辞林](http://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%B8%81%E5%AF%A7%E8%AA%9E)), but
there are some linguists who do not consider it to be 敬語. In normal discussion
I think that it is safe to assume that 敬語 contains 丁寧語.

_Formality_ (e.g., である) is yet another dimension unrelated to showing respect.




**尊敬語** is when the subject of the sentence is shown respect.

**謙譲語** is when the subject of the sentence is being humbled.

**丁寧語** is when the addressee is being shown respect.

(Note that the subject is often not explicitly in the sentence.)

From the definitions, it should be clear that it is possible to combine 尊敬語
and 丁寧語, or 謙譲語 and 丁寧語, but not 尊敬語 and 謙譲語 (in a single clause). So, to
answer one of your questions regarding なさる & なさいます, the former is 尊敬語, while
the latter is both 尊敬語 and 丁寧語.

Regarding how to classify 丁寧語, most people consider it to be a kind of 敬語 (for
example, [大辞林](http://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%B8%81%E5%AF%A7%E8%AA%9E)), but
there are some linguists who do not consider it to be 敬語. In normal discussion
I think that it is safe to assume that 敬語 contains 丁寧語.

_Formality_ (e.g., である) is yet another dimension unrelated to showing respect.

