Inclusive and Exclusive 'We': 𫣆俚 and 𠊎兜 — Sixian 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.

(enˊ liˋên lí) INCLUDES the listener — you and I.
(ngaiˇ deuˊngài têu) EXCLUDES the listener — me and others, but not you.

𫣆俚 — You and I

(enˊ liˋên lí) is built from (enˊên), 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？
enˊ liˋ loiˇ hi kon tien iangˋ hoˋ moˇên lí lòi hi khon thien yáng hó mò
Shall we go and watch a movie?
𫣆俚做麼个無愛去餐廳食飯呢？
enˊ liˋ zo maˋ ge moˇ oi hi conˊ tangˊ siid fan noˋên lí cho má ke mò oi hi chhôn thâng sṳ̍t fan nó
Why don't we go and eat at a restaurant?
𫣆俚來食披薩啊。
enˊ liˋ loiˇ siid pi saˋ aên lí lòi sṳ̍t phi sá a
Let's eat pizza.

𠊎兜 — Me and Others

(ngaiˇ deuˊngài têu) is the ordinary plural of (ngaiˇngài), formed with (deuˊtêu) 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。
ngaiˇ deuˊ di ge siid zungài têu ti ke sṳ̍t chu
We are eating lunch.
𠊎兜希望你旅途愉快。
ngaiˇ deuˊ hiˊ mong nˇ liˊ tuˇ iˇ kuaingài têu hî mong ǹ lî thù yì khoai
We hope you have a pleasant journey.
𠊎兜戴在十六樓。
ngaiˇ deuˊ dai di siib liugˋ leuˇngài têu tai ti sṳ̍p 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 (geke) to give our: (enˊ liˋ geên lí ke) counting the listener in, (ngaiˇ deuˊ gengài têu ke) 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。
enˊ liˋ ge aˊ meˊ hanˇ heu sangˊên lí ke â mê hàn heu sâng
Our mother is still young.
𠊎兜个倈仔無頭路。
ngaiˇ deuˊ ge lai eˋ moˇ teuˇ lungài têu ke lai é mò thèu lu
Our son doesn't have a job.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Sixian 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。
diˊ. enˊ liˋ loiˇ siid zungˊ siidˋ liau liˊ.tî. ên lí lòi sṳ̍t chûng sṳt liau lî.
Yes. Let's eat Chinese food.
Lesson 127
毋好毋記得𫣆俚野餐用个乳酪。
mˇ hoˋ mˇ gi dedˋ enˊ liˋ iaˊ conˊ iung ge nen logˋ.m̀ hó m̀ ki tet ên lí yâ chhôn yung ke nen lok.
Don't forget the cheese for our picnic.
Lesson 477

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