Talk:です

Decontraction

Are all of the theorized decontractions identical in meaning? I know Xです is semantically the same as Xであります in meaning (I put the X there to be the object of the particle で, which is separate from あります, the main verb), as well as Xでございます (ございます is a more formal form of あります), but I don't know if the other decontractions are semantically identical. ThighFish (talk) 21:46, 15 April 2021 (UTC)

@ThighFish: In brief, no, they're not all identical.

• ございます (gozaimasu) is the humble form of あります (arimasu), so those differ primarily in terms of social register. でございます (de gozaimasu) was apparently common historically, but in modern usage, it sounds obsequious or intentionally archaic, so you won't encounter that much anymore, if I've understood things correctly.
• でする (de suru) would basically mean "do by means of [whatever came before]", so this doesn't mean just "is". I've not encountered this derivation theory anywhere else, and a quick look at the entries at Kotobank and Weblio shows no such notes, nor does the JA Wiktionary entry. I'm inclined to think this one is a mistaken etymology peculiar to the EN Wiktionary, which we should either explicitly source, or remove.
• I'm not familiar with the でおわす (de owasu) derivation either, and that too is missing from other resources. At least that is conceptually in the right ballpark, since おわす (owasu) was an honorific word for "to be / to go / to come", quite similar to いらっしゃる (irassharu). You won't encounter this in casual speech, but folks appear to use it when trying to invoke certain social contexts. I'd confirm with a native speaker before trying to use this yourself.
  • Would you be able to make an entry for おわす? ThighFish (talk) 04:29, 16 April 2021 (UTC)

@ThighFish: It's on my list! :D I'm a bit bogged down until, probably, some time next week, but I do plan to work on that. ‑‑ Eiríkr Útlendi │^{Tala við mig} 05:05, 16 April 2021 (UTC)

• Lastly, the そうろう (sōrou) in でそうろう (de sōrou) is a Classical Japanese polite word similar to ございます (gozaimasu), developing from humble verb saburau, spelled either 候う or 侍う and cognate with 侍 (samurai, literally “servant, retainer”), with a basic meaning of "to serve someone, to be in service to someone". As usage shifted to more of an auxiliary verb "to be" sense, it was for a while used in a way roughly equivalent to the modern polite verb ending ます (masu), such as this example from the 平家物語 (Heike Monogatari, “The Tale of the Heike”) (mid 1300s or so):

これほどの大事(だいじ)に及(およ)び候(そうろ)ふうへは、つひに逃(のが)れ候(そうろ)ふまじ

Kore hodo daiji ni oyobi-sōrou ue wa, tsui ni nogare-sōrou maji

Since [things] have reached such a weighty level, [they] will hardly have escaped after all

This conceptually matches the basic function and politeness level of modern です (desu), and there are ample historical textual examples of でそうろう (de sōrou) and its later contraction でそう (de sou).

Ultimately, modern plain-form だ (da) and polite-form です (desu) are somewhat synthetic inventions of the language-reform and unity-building movements active during the Meiji period, and as such, です (desu) is probably influenced by all of the above (with the possible exeption of でする (de suru)).

HTH, ‑‑ Eiríkr Útlendi │^{Tala við mig} 00:47, 16 April 2021 (UTC)