ござる

Japanese

Alternative spellings
御座る厶る (rare)

Etymology

Shift from ござある (gozaaru),^[1] composed of ご (honorific prefix) +‎ ざ (“seat”) +‎ ある (“to be, to have”), literally “to have one's honorable seat”.

According to Kōjien, the above is derived from the Sino-Japanese reading of (the kanji in the ateji spelling of) 御座す (owasu) + あり (ari) (the classical form of ある (aru)).^[2]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) ござる [gòzáꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [2])
IPA^(key): [ɡo̞za̠ɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "ござる"

Stem forms
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	ござる	ござる	`[gòzáꜜrù]`
Imperative (命令形)	-	-	-
Key constructions
Passive	ござられる	ござられる	`[gòzáráréꜜrù]`
Causative	ござらせる	ござらせる	`[gòzáráséꜜrù]`
Potential	-	-	-
Volitional	ござろう	ござろー	`[gòzáróꜜò]`
Negative	ござらない	ござらない	`[gòzáráꜜnàì]`
Negative perfective	ござらなかった	ござらなかった	`[gòzáráꜜnàkàttà]`
Formal	ござります	ござります	`[gòzárímáꜜsù]`
Perfective	ござった	ござった	`[gòzáꜜttà]`
Conjunctive	ござって	ござって	`[gòzáꜜttè]`
Hypothetical conditional	ござれば	ござれば	`[gòzáꜜrèbà]`

Verb

ござる • (gozaru) intransitive godan (stem ござり (gozari) or ござい (gozai), past ござった (gozatta))

(archaic) to exist, to be, to have

Usage notes

In classical Japanese, ござる (gozaru) was the polite form of ある (aru) applicable to both animate and inanimate objects. It survives in modern Japanese only in the inflected forms ございました (gozaimashita), ございましたら (gozaimashitara), ございます (gozaimasu), and です (desu), which may originate from a contraction of でございます (de gozaimasu). ご (go-) is a politeness prefix, ざ (za) is the equivalent of ある (aru) in Sino-Japanese, and finally る (-ru) is a suffix for verbs. Another opinion is that it is a contraction of ござある (gozaaru), composed of 御座 (goza, “noble seat”) and ある (aru, “to exist”, literally “to be on a noble seat”).
In modern popular culture, it is associated with ninja.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "ござる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	ござら	gozara
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	ございござり	gozai gozari
Shūshikei ("terminal")	ござる	gozaru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	ござる	gozaru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	ござれ	gozare
Meireikei ("imperative")	ござい	gozai
Key constructions
Passive	ござられる	gozarareru
Causative	ござらせるござらす	gozaraseru gozarasu
Potential	ござれる	gozareru
Volitional	ござろう	gozarō
Negative	ござらない	gozaranai
Negative continuative	ござらず	gozarazu
Formal	ございます	gozaimasu
Perfective	ござった	gozatta
Conjunctive	ござって	gozatte
Hypothetical conditional	ござれば	gozareba

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN

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

[2] Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN

[1]

[2]