When you say “we,” is the listener included?
English “we” can include the person being addressed, or leave them out. Indonesian distinguishes these meanings with kita and kami: kita includes the listener, while kami excludes them. The distinction concerns membership of the group, not simply how many people it contains.
Questions you could explore
- How could changing the listener change the pronoun without changing the group’s size?
Start reading
- WALS OnlineDatapoint Indonesian / Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns
The WALS Indonesian entry labels kita as inclusive and kami as exclusive, citing a reference grammar.
- WALS OnlineInclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns, chapter 39
The WALS chapter explains the broader inclusive/exclusive distinction across languages.
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