Honorific suffix 御 as in 甥御 and 姪御?


Just learned that the honorific equivalents of nephew and niece in Japanese
are: **甥御** and **姪御** , which raise the question:

**How come 御 functions as a suffix instead of a prefix which is the case we
usually see? Are there other common examples of this phenomenon?**

Incidentally, according to goo辞書, they are generally written in kana instead
of kanji. I used their kanji for the sake of clarity.

*Been slacking off with my Japanese lately, but よろしくお願いいたします！




御 _-go_ is a suffix, distinct from the prefix _go-_. The suffix is used to
show "light respect" towards human beings only, mostly after family terms (so
not for general nouns like _go-Iken_ , etc.). The _Kokugo Daijiten_ dictionary
attributes it to an abbreviation of 御前 _Goze_.

_Goze_ , _Gozen_ was originally a word for nobility, then a respectful term
for adult women, then a respectful term _of address_ for women (a treatment
pronoun). By the 13th century we see _-goze_ used as a polite suffix; in the
_Heike Monotagari_ ( _Tale of the House of Taira_ ) we have characters
addressing others like やや副将御ぜ _Yaya, Fukushō-goze…_ “Well now, Lord Vice-
captain…”

In the same work we have the first known appearance of _-go_ as 母御 (modern
_Haha-go_ ). By the time the Jesuits came and described the language, around
1604, [they found it in
use](https://books.google.de/books?id=GB8YAAAAYAAJ&dq=V%C3%B4gigo&hl=de&pg=PA320#v=onepage&q&f=false)
for the whole family: _Faua-go_ ( _Fawa-go_ , modern _Haha-go_ ), _Tete-go_
(father), _Vôgi-go_ (ヲウチゴ _Wōdji-go_ , modern _Ojī-go_ , grandfather (not
_Ōji_ , prince)), _Ani-go_ older brother, _Vototo-go_ ( _Wototo_ > _Otōto_ ),
_Vba-go_ ( _Uba-go_ > _Uba_ ), _Vôba-go_ ( _Wōba_ ?> _Obā_ ), "&c.".

The Jesuits explain of _-goien_ ( _gojen_ = ごぜん; ぜ was like じぇ at the time)
and its reduced form _-go_ that:

> The first particle of these two [=ごぜん] is proper solely for women, & honour
> them in the manner of _Sama_ , out of respect for the noble people to whom
> such women belong. […] _-Go_ [, by contrast,] is proper for men & women.

Notice that this is already different from the use of _-goze_ to address the
captain in the _Heike_. Apparently the longer form became sufficiently
associated with women that the shorter _-go_ replaced it as a gender-neutral
suffix.

Sources:

  * _Kokugo Daijiten_.
  * _Arte da lingoa de Iapam_ (my translation).




御 _-go_ is a suffix, distinct from the prefix _go-_. The suffix is used to
show "light respect" towards human beings only, mostly after family terms (so
not for general nouns like _go-Iken_ , etc.). The _Kokugo Daijiten_ dictionary
attributes it to an abbreviation of 御前 _Goze_.

_Goze_ , _Gozen_ was originally a word for nobility, then a respectful term
for adult women, then a respectful term _of address_ for women (a treatment
pronoun). By the 13th century we see _-goze_ used as a polite suffix; in the
_Heike Monotagari_ ( _Tale of the House of Taira_ ) we have characters
addressing others like やや副将御ぜ _Yaya, Fukushō-goze…_ “Well now, Lord Vice-
captain…”

In the same work we have the first known appearance of _-go_ as 母御 (modern
_Haha-go_ ). By the time the Jesuits came and described the language, around
1604, [they found it in
use](https://books.google.de/books?id=GB8YAAAAYAAJ&dq=V%C3%B4gigo&hl=de&pg=PA320#v=onepage&q&f=false)
for the whole family: _Faua-go_ ( _Fawa-go_ , modern _Haha-go_ ), _Tete-go_
(father), _Vôgi-go_ (ヲウチゴ _Wōdji-go_ , modern _Ojī-go_ , grandfather (not
_Ōji_ , prince)), _Ani-go_ older brother, _Vototo-go_ ( _Wototo_ > _Otōto_ ),
_Vba-go_ ( _Uba-go_ > _Uba_ ), _Vôba-go_ ( _Wōba_ ?> _Obā_ ), "&c.".

The Jesuits explain of _-goien_ ( _gojen_ = ごぜん; ぜ was like じぇ at the time)
and its reduced form _-go_ that:

> The first particle of these two [=ごぜん] is proper solely for women, & honour
> them in the manner of _Sama_ , out of respect for the noble people to whom
> such women belong. […] _-Go_ [, by contrast,] is proper for men & women.

Notice that this is already different from the use of _-goze_ to address the
captain in the _Heike_. Apparently the longer form became sufficiently
associated with women that the shorter _-go_ replaced it as a gender-neutral
suffix.

Sources:

  * _Kokugo Daijiten_.
  * _Arte da lingoa de Iapam_ (my translation).

