"We" in as many languages as possible?

[ebostanci]

Hello

"we" in turkish "biz"

[Anuanua]

In the Polynesian languages reo tahiti (tahitian) and reo ma'ohi ("normalised" native language of most of French Polynesia), there are four translations of "we".

"We" can mean "you and I", in which case the "we" is said "inclusive" (it includes the person who speaks). An example of an inclusive "we" is "My wife and I gladly accept your invitation. We will come".

In this case, "we" means two persons ; but "we" can mean more that two, as in this example "The whole hockey team gladly accepts your invitation. We will come".

In both examples above, "we" was inclusive, but "we" can also be exclusive (it does not include the person who speaks). As in the following example. Let us suppose that I am French citizen and I do not like Sarkozy. However, he was elected as president. So I can say "We, the French people, voted for Sarkozy".

That makes for four possible meanings for "we" : 1° two persons inclusive ; 2° two persons exclusive ; 3° more than two inclusive and 4° more than two exclusive. So those reo (polynesian languages) have four words for "we":

1° two persons inclusive : maua (Each letter, except the "m", is pronounced one by one. The a is like in Hawaii ; the u is like in quality.
2° two persons exclusive : taua
3° more than two inclusive : matou (Again, all vowels are pronounced one by one : mato-u. Often pronounced also as [matow])
4° more than two exclusive : tatou ([tato-u] or [tatow])

[Gulalys]

In kurdish : Em (We)

[pc2]

In hindi:
हम ham.

[kaptan]

turc : biz

[Ramjit29]

SANTALI = ᱟᱵᱚ (aabo)

[Lal]

Tibetan :

nga tsho.JPG (8.81 KiB) Viewed 7627 times

(ngatso)
Welsh : ni