いらっしゃいませ

Japanese

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Etymology

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いらっしゃい (irasshai, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, continuative) of the honorific verb いらっしゃる irassharu) +‎ ませ (mase, the 命令形 (meireikei, imperative) of formal suffix masu).

Compare Korean 어서 오세요 (eoseo oseyo, literally quickly come (honorific)).

Pronunciation

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  • (Tokyo) らっしゃいま [ìrássháímáꜜsè] (Nakadaka – [6])[1]
  • IPA(key): [iɾa̠ɕːa̠ima̠se̞]

Interjection

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いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase

  1. welcome
  2. please come on in

Usage notes

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  • Used by a store person to greet a customer, similarly to "hello, may I help you?"
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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN