Re: Is it necessary to distinguish inclusiveness in possessive markers?

Trebor wrote:
 So what system should I use - Hawaiianesque (with all those different forms of
'we'), Englishesque (with only 'you' - no sg/pl distinction), or
Indonesianesque (no distinction between sg/pl 3p)? It's SO confusing...

 RM Well, as Andreas said, all three!! :-))) However.... I've always thought
the Melanesian/Polynesian singular - dual - trial - plural system a bit much.
No Comment on English. Indonesian as you probably know distinguishes 1st pers.
inclusuve/exclusive, with appropriate possessives.

  kita - we incl. (I/we + you/y'all)
  kami - we excl. (I/we + other(s), not you)
  rumah kita 'our house' - spoken perhaps to your wife
  rumah kami 'our house' - to anyone else

 Some related languages have lost the incl/excl distinction; interestingly, in
almost every case, it's the inclusive form that survives as a general "we".

 Third person _can_ distinguish sing/pl-- ia (and other polite forms) 'he/she'
-- mereka 'they'. The usual possessive suffix covers both: rumahnya
'his/her/their house' -- but can be made specific for plural, rumah mereka.

 The problem is that _all_ subject/object pronouns are frequently omitted in
speech, unless required for clarity.

 The real problem comes in 2nd person, where you have to mind your manners. As
a foreigner in Indonesia, I had little exposure to the most familiar forms. I
was called, at various points,
  Bapak ('father') Mills - most formal (bapak if you don't know the person's name)
  Pak Mills - still formal but less so
  Pak Roger - friendly
  Pak - even more friendly
  Prof - also friendly, but respecting my job

 Women are addressed as ibu (mother) +surname, bu + surname, bu + first name or
simply bu, comparable to the above.

 Military folks are addressed by their rank, other officials by their titles --
if known; otherwise they're "bapak" etc.

 At the time I studied the language, the "official" generic "you" was saudara,
literally 'brother'-- saudara-saudara for plural if necessary. Nowadays (30
years later) I gather these have fallen into disuse, but I don't know what's
replaced them........ Young people who were acquainted with English liked to
use "yu", but I suspect that's still restricted to students.