Chapter 64First-Person Plural and Clusivity

64.1 Two conversational meanings of we

In the Saru/Chitose reference paradigm, conversational “we” distinguishes a group that excludes the addressee from one that includes the addressee. The exclusive series has three different forms for S, A and O. Inclusive reference uses the series also called fourth person Tamura (1972: 18–19, §§2.2–2.3); Nakagawa (2024: 164–165, 175); Bugaeva (2012: 472, 474–475).

The transitive cells assume a third-person counterpart. Inclusive reference can comprise just speaker and addressee or a larger group. The forms themselves do not specify that group's size Tamura (1972: 19). The independent pronouns have their own regional forms; see Chapter 49 (Independent Personal Pronouns).

64.2 Subject forms in clause chains

The exclusive prefix ci= marks a transitive subject; the suffix =as marks an intransitive subject. Takahashi's Tokachi example contains both, with the same participants riding and coming Takahashi (2015: 207, example 2).

Western Hidaka and Chitose contract ci= to c= before stem-initial a, u, e, o Nakagawa (2024: 167). This regional alternation parallels first-singular ku=; see Chapter 31 (Person Markers: Contraction, Accent, and Suffix Boundaries).

64.3 Inclusive invitations and exclusive reports

The invitation includes the addressee in the proposed journey. In the second example, the speakers tell the addressee about their arrival; that group excludes the listener. Both verbs have plural stems, while the person suffixes express the difference in membership Nakagawa (2024: 175).

64.4 Object forms and their references

Exclusive un= and fourth-person i= occupy different rows of the paradigm Nakagawa (2024: 170, table 27). The following request uses un= for the people seeking protection. The water deity addressed in the request is outside that group.

First-to-second-person combinations follow the interaction paradigm in Chapter 65 (Eci and Person Interactions). The two object forms above cannot be exchanged merely because both can refer to several people.

64.5 Register and competing accounts

Literary uses of the CI series can refer to a single narrator. Satō reports that Chitose divine songs and prose narratives sometimes begin with ci=/=as before shifting to a=/=an. He contrasts this with the sustained CI-series usage in Chiri Yukie's collection Satō (2008: 261). A conversational translation such as “we excluding you” therefore does not describe every literary occurrence.

Refsing's Shizunai account emphasizes a concrete, cohesive group whose members the speaker can represent; she associates indefinite forms with reference outside those conditions Refsing (1986: 215–216). This semantic account differs from a description stated solely in terms of addressee inclusion. Takahashi instead develops an inclusive-person analysis for Tokachi, connecting several functions through extensions of inclusive reference Takahashi (2015: 205–206, 211–212) ‹contested›.

Sakhalin comparisons also depend on the variety and analysis. Sakaguchi's East Sakhalin account allows grammatical CI-series plural forms with singular reference and does not posit the same semantic clusivity division as in Hokkaido. Dal Corso describes an eastern exclusive set and contrasts western descriptions that lack it Sakaguchi (2024: 25–29); Dal Corso (2025: 195–196) ‹contested›. The wider range of fourth-person functions is treated in Chapter 67 (Fourth-Person Forms and Their Uses).