Re: Inclusive or exclusive?

Hallo!

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:43:06 +0200, Isaac Penzev wrote:

> Hi ppl,
>
> I want to ask for your advice. I'll be brief.
>
> If a language makes personal pronouns plural by adding a plural suffix to
> singular stems, like _gan_ 'thou' > _gan.tay_ 'you (pl)', and has
> inclusive/exclusive distinction in 1pl, would _nan.tay_ (< _nan_ 'I') mean
> 'we (incl)' or 'we (excl)'?
We(excl).  I have read somewhere that if 1) plural pronouns are formed from
singular pronouns by means of a suffix and 2) there is an inclusive/exclusive
distinction, the regular plural of the 1st person pronoun has exclusive
meaning.  In Tok Pisin, for example, you have

_mi_ 'I'    _mipela_   'we (excl.)'
            _yumipela_ 'we (incl.)'
_yu_ 'thou' _yupela_   'you (pl.)'

(Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Or AFMCL Old Albic:

_ma_  'I'    _mi_  'we (excl.)'
             _vi_  'we (incl.)'
_tha_ 'thou' _thi_ 'you (pl.)'

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