いらっしゃる

いらっしゃる

Japanese

Etymology

Originally a contraction of いらせらる (iraseraru), itself an honorific conjugation of 入ら (ira, the 未然形 (mizenkei, “imperfective”) of verb iru, “to come in, to go in; to arrive; to be in a place”) + せ (se, the 未然形 (mizenkei, “imperfective”) of honorific auxiliary verb su) + らる (raru, the older form of passivizing auxiliary verb rareru, here serving as another honorific).[1][2]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いらっしゃ​る [ìrássháꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [4])[3]
• IPA^(key): [iɾa̠ɕːa̠ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

Verb

いらっしゃる (intransitive, irregular conjugation, rōmaji irassharu)

1. (honorific) to go
   • 1994, Uchida, Yasuo, 三州吉良殺人事件 (Sanshū Kira Satsujin Jiken, “Murder in Kira, Sanshū”), Tōkyō: Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd, →ISBN Invalid ISBN, pages 304:

     孫娘 (まごむすめ)は身 (み)をよじらんばかりに恐縮 (きょうしゅく)して、「あの、これからどちらへいらっしゃるのでしょうか？」と訊 (き)いた。

     Magomusume wa mi o yojiran bakari ni kyōshuku shite, “ano, kore kara dochira e irassharu no deshō ka?” to kiita.

     The granddaughter asked, so shyly that she was practically writhing, "Um, where might you be going next?"

2. (honorific) to come
   • 1977, Ushio, Michio, 美しい村 (Utsukushii Mura, “Beautiful Village”)‎, Google Play Books, page 351:

     でも一体 (いったい)、何 (なん)時 (じ)ごろあなた方 (がた)はこちらへいらっしゃるのかしら？

     Demo ittai, nanji goro anatagata wa kochira e irassharu no kashira?

     But then, around what time would you be coming, I wonder?

3. (honorific) to be

   山田 (やまだ)さんがいらっしゃいますでしょうか。

   Yamada-san ga irasshaimasu deshō ka.

   Is Yamada-san there? (such as when telephoning a place of business)

   お元 (げん)気 (き)でいらっしゃいますか。

   O-genki de irasshaimasu ka.

   Are you doing well?

Usage notes

As listed above, this term can variously mean going, coming, or being in one place. Which meaning is intended depends on context. Compare お出で (​oide) of similarly broad and context-dependent meaning.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "いらっしゃる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	いらっしゃら	irasshara
Continuative (連用形)	いらっしゃい いらっしゃり	irasshai irasshari
Terminal (終止形)	いらっしゃる	irassharu
Attributive (連体形)	いらっしゃる	irassharu
Hypothetical (仮定形)	いらっしゃれ	irasshare
Imperative (命令形)	いらっしゃい	irasshai
Key constructions
Passive	いらっしゃられる	irassharareru
Causative	いらっしゃらせる いらっしゃらす	irassharaseru irassharasu
Potential	いらっしゃれる	irasshareru
Volitional	いらっしゃろう	irassharō
Negative	いらっしゃらない	irassharanai
Negative continuative	いらっしゃらず	irassharazu
Formal	いらっしゃいます	irasshaimasu
Perfective	いらっしゃった	irasshatta
Conjunctive	いらっしゃって	irasshatte
Hypothetical conditional	いらっしゃれば	irasshareba

Synonyms

• お出 (い)でになる (oide ni naru)

Derived terms

• いらっしゃい (irasshai)
• いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase)

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN