Inclusive and Exclusive 'We': 𫣆俚 and 𠊎兜 — Hailu Hakka Grammar

Hakka has two words for we, and choosing between them turns on whether the person being spoken to belongs to the group. English makes no such distinction and leaves it to context, so this is a decision that has to be taken consciously at first.

(enˋ liên lì) INCLUDES the listener — you and I.
(ngai deuˋngài têu) EXCLUDES the listener — me and others, but not you.

𫣆俚 — You and I

(enˋ liên lì) is built from (enˋên), which is we counting the speaker in, followed by a syllable marking plurality. It is the natural choice for a suggestion, since a suggestion by its nature takes in the person hearing it, which is why it appears so often alongside a verb of proposing.

𫣆俚來去看電影好無？
enˋ li loi hiˇ konˇ tien+ rhangˊ hoˊ moên lì lòi hi khon thie̊n yáng hó mò
Shall we go and watch a movie?
𫣆俚做麼个無愛去餐廳食飯呢？
enˋ li zoˇ maˋ gaiˇ mo oiˇ hiˇ conˋ tangˋ shidˋ pon+ no+ên lì tso mâ kai mò oi hi tshôn thâng shi̍t pho̊n no̊
Why don't we go and eat at a restaurant?
𫣆俚來食披薩啊。
enˋ li loi shidˋ pi saˋ a+ên lì lòi shi̍t phì sâ å
Let's eat pizza.

𠊎兜 — Me and Others

(ngai deuˋngài têu) is the ordinary plural of (ngaingài), formed with (deuˋtêu) exactly like every other pronoun plural. It is used when the listener stands outside the group being described — reporting what one's own side did, rather than proposing something jointly.

𠊎兜在該食晝。
ngai deuˋ diˇ gai shidˋ zhiuˇngài têu ti kài shi̍t chiu
We are eating lunch.
𠊎兜希望你旅途愉快。
ngai deuˋ hiˋ mong+ ngi liˋ tu rhi kuaiˇngài têu hî mo̊ng ngì lî thù yì khoai
We hope you have a pleasant journey.
𠊎兜戴在十六樓。
ngai deuˋ daiˇ diˇ shibˋ liug leungài têu tai ti shi̍p liuk lèu
We live on the sixteenth floor.

Getting It Wrong

Using the exclusive form where the inclusive belongs does not make a sentence ungrammatical, but it quietly shuts the listener out. An invitation to eat framed with the exclusive word says that the meal is for everyone except the person being invited, which is why the distinction is worth drilling early.

Possessives

Both take (gaiˇkai) to give our: (enˋ li gaiˇên lì kai) counting the listener in, (ngai deuˋ gaiˇngài têu kai) leaving them out. The same split runs through the pronoun system wherever we or our is involved.

𫣆俚个阿姆還後生。
enˋ li gaiˇ a+ meˋ han heu+ sangˋên lì kai å mê hàn he̊u sâng
Our mother is still young.
𠊎兜个倈仔無頭路。
ngai deuˋ gaiˇ laiˇ er mo teu lu+ngài têu kai lai èr mò thèu lů
Our son doesn't have a job.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Hailu Hakka course

36 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 7. A few of them, with the words “Inclusive and Exclusive 'We': 𫣆俚 and 𠊎兜” is about in bold:

知。𫣆俚來食中式料理。
diˋ. enˋ li loi shidˋ zhungˋ shid liau+ liˋ.tî. ên lì lòi shi̍t chûng shit liåu lî.
Yes. Let's eat Chinese food.
Lesson 127
毋好毋記得𫣆俚野餐用个乳酪。
m hoˊ m giˇ ded enˋ li rhaˋ conˋ rhung+ gaiˇ nenˇ log.m̀ hó m̀ ki tet ên lì yâ tshôn yůng kai nen lok.
Don't forget the cheese for our picnic.
Lesson 477

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