Re: 1st person plural we and its forms

Jake X wrote:
> OK, so has anyone noticed the multiple meanings of we? All the other pronoun
> slots seem to be pretty clear in who they can include, but English we can
> also include the adressed person(s) 2nd singular or plural. Does any lang
> make the distinction?
Yes.  This is called inclusive vs. exclusive.  Inclusive means
"including the person or persons being addressed", and exclusive means
"excluding the person or persons being addressed".  Quite a few
languages make this distinction, for example, Fijian has the following
pronouns:

                  Singular  Dual      Paucal  Plural
1st person excl.  Au        Keirau    Keitou  Keimami
1st person incl.  ---       Kedaru    Kedatou Keda
Second person     Iko       Kemudrau  Kemudou Kemunii
Third person      Koya      Rau       Iratou  Ira

So, for example, Keirau = "I and another person (not you)" while Kedaru
= "I and you", Keitou = "We (a small number of people excluding you)",
Kedatou = "We (a small group of people including you)"

Bislama, an English-lexified creole, has a related system:

                  Singular  Dual         Trial?      Plural
1st person excl.  Mi        Mituvala     Mitrivala   Mivala
1st person incl.  ---       Yumi(tuvala) Yumitrivala Yumivala
Second person     Yu        Yutuvala     Yutrivala   Yuvala
Third person      Im (IIRC) Tuvala       Trivala     Olgeta (<All
together?)

I'm not sure if the -trivala forms are actually trial (that is, three
people) or if they're paucal, and _tri_ was just used for that purpose.
Vala is derived from "fellow", I've also seen it with -pela instead of
-vala.  Different dialects, I suppose.

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