What conjugation/form is the ませ (for example: いらっしゃいませ)?


I know it's used for greetings in a restaurant or store. But what type of verb
conjugation (ex: polite, plain, honorific, imperative, or something else) is
it? Is it used with other verbs? Is it archaic Japanese or modern Japanese?




`~ませ` is the imperative form of the polite auxiliary verb `~ます` which connects
to the conjunctive form of verbs. According to Daijirin it's used with the
verbs `いらっしゃる`, `おっしゃる`, `くださる`, `なさる`, `申す` and `召す` etc (I've only seen
`いらっしゃいませ`, `くださいませ` and `なさいませ` used myself though, so I'm not sure how
common the other ones are).

It's used in modern Japanese, and I think it's frequently used with honorific
language (though maybe not restricted to it as `申す` and `召す` are humble
language). It's used to make requests/demands more polite as well as to add
politeness to greetings as in `お帰りなさいませ`.

`いらっしゃいませ`/`くださいませ` etc are euphonic changes from the conjunctive forms
`いらっしゃり`/`くださり` to `いらっしゃい`/`ください` (rather than being the imperative
`いらっしゃい`/`ください`), together with the imperative polite `~ませ`.

* * *

(References: [Space ALC
日本語Q&A](http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/jpn_npa?stage=2&sn=102),
[Dajirin](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%BE%E3%81%9B&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=0&index=118441100000&pagenum=1),
[Dajisen](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%BE%E3%81%9B&dtype=0&dname=0na&stype=0&index=17315400&pagenum=1))




`~ませ` is the imperative form of the polite auxiliary verb `~ます` which connects
to the conjunctive form of verbs. According to Daijirin it's used with the
verbs `いらっしゃる`, `おっしゃる`, `くださる`, `なさる`, `申す` and `召す` etc (I've only seen
`いらっしゃいませ`, `くださいませ` and `なさいませ` used myself though, so I'm not sure how
common the other ones are).

It's used in modern Japanese, and I think it's frequently used with honorific
language (though maybe not restricted to it as `申す` and `召す` are humble
language). It's used to make requests/demands more polite as well as to add
politeness to greetings as in `お帰りなさいませ`.

`いらっしゃいませ`/`くださいませ` etc are euphonic changes from the conjunctive forms
`いらっしゃり`/`くださり` to `いらっしゃい`/`ください` (rather than being the imperative
`いらっしゃい`/`ください`), together with the imperative polite `~ませ`.

* * *

(References: [Space ALC
日本語Q&A](http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/jpn_npa?stage=2&sn=102),
[Dajirin](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%BE%E3%81%9B&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=0&index=118441100000&pagenum=1),
[Dajisen](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%BE%E3%81%9B&dtype=0&dname=0na&stype=0&index=17315400&pagenum=1))

