Languages with different words for 'we'

Question

Are there any languages that make a distinction between the following:

1. We (you and I)
2. We (them and I, but not you)
3. We (all of us)

I don't think any of the Germanic languages do.

Also, what is this distinction called? If I knew that I think I may have been able to Google this answer.

An example of this ambiguity in English would be a group of people, where one person says to another "we are going for dinner".

Is she telling you that the two of you are going to dinner? Is she saying her and her friends are going to dinner but you are not invited? Or is the plan that everyone is going?

Obviously you can infer this most of the time with context, but I hope the example does show that there is some ambiguity.

Answer 1

This distinction is called clusivity and as far as I know no language has a three-way distinction here, having at most a two way inclusive (1 & 3 in your list), exclusive (2 in your list) distinction

The relevant chapters on WALS (a very useful resource for checking things like this) can be found from the corresponding maps here (for independent pronouns) & here (for verbal inflection)

In both maps, the red dots have a clear inclusive/exclusive distinction, whilst the pink dots treat exclusive 1st person plural & 1st person singular to some extent the same (with independent pronouns this means that I only say "we" if I'm including you, otherwise I say "I" even though multiple people are meant, but with verbs it may also include languages with clearly separate number and person affixes). The dark blue dots have no inclusive/exclusive distinction exactly as in English. The light blue dots also lack this distinction, but treat 1st person plural & 1st person singular to some extent the same (as with the pink dots, for verbal inflection this can include languages with separate person and number marking). The white dots fail to fit any of these, either lacking any 1st person plural pronoun (requiring constructions like "you & I" or "him & I", or lacking any person marking

There is also a subchapter to the first of these dealing specifically with the Pama-Nyungan languages of Australia which are famous for having such a distinction. Here only whether a distinction exists (red) or does not (blue) is marked, as the other options are not relevant

Answer 2

I'm from the Philippines and we have different kinds of "we" in Tagalog/Filipino language.

1. We (you and I) = "Tayo"
2. We (them and I, but not you) = "Kami"
3. We (all of us) = "Tayo" or "Lahat tayo"

Answer 3

In American Sign Language, pronouns are indicated spatially, so it is very easy to make a clear distinction between the three cases:

1. 2- or K-handshape back and forth for "you and I" or "two of us"
2. 1-handshape from side to side of chest, pointing to the speaker, for "we" meaning "they and I, but not you"
3. 1-handshape in a circle including me and you, for "we" meaning "all of us"

One can even concisely indicate "three of us" to the exclusion of a fourth person present by circling 3-handshape among the three people spatially avoiding the fourth, and so on.

Answer 4

The Malayalam language (of which I am a native speaker) makes a distinction, as does Sanskrit.

E.g., in Malayalam, "nammal" (us, you included), "nammal iruvarum" (the two of us), "njangal" (us, you excluded). The second of these is a bit of a long shot; since it literally means "us two".

Answer 5

Tongan allows for this (and I suspect other Polynesian languages as well). Each pronoun has a singular, duo, and trio+ form, and each of the first-person plural pronouns have both inclusive and exclusive forms (for including or excluding the listener).

Thus:

Pronoun	Singular	Duo Inclusive	Duo Exclusive	Trio Inclusive	Trio Exclusive
First-person	au (me)	kitaua (me and you)	kimaua (me and him)	kitautolu (all of us)	kimautolu (me and them but not you)
Second-person	koe (you)	-	kimoua (you two)	-	kimoutolu (y'all)
Third-person	ia (him/her)	-	kinaua (those two)	-	kinautolu (them)

Anecdotally, when I learned Tongan, myself and other native English speakers would in English conversation occasionally feel the need to clarify intent using Tongan.

"So turns out they want us at the meetup by 7."

"Us...as in kitautolu or kimoua?"

"Oh, nah, kimaua, just me and Lauti."

Definitely one of the convenient grammatical quirks I wish English had.

Answer 6

Malay (Malaysian/Singaporean, Brunei & Indonesian) differentiates two "we":

1. Kami - them and I but not you

2. Kita - all of us

The case of just you and I can be covered by "kita berdua" which is literally "we two" or "the two of us" but that is kind of a cheat and is not literally a word.

Answer 7

Spanish language has distinction by gender(wiki) for the pronoun "we"(nosotros/nosotras):

... also inflect for gender: nosotros and vosotros are used to refer to groups of men (as well as men and women), and nosotras and vosotras are used exclusively to refer to groups of women.

Answer 8

Hawaiian allows for all three of these uses to be distinguished. This is because it has not only clusivity but also a dual number (so that plural implies at least three). 1 would be inclusive dual, 2 exclusive plural, and 3 inclusive plural. (Exclusive dual would be “me and one other person who isn’t you”.)

Answer 9

Mandarin Chinese has "我们" ("wǒmen" can be inclusive but not necessarily) and "咱们" (" zánmen" almost always inclusive), though there are additional register and regional differences ("zánmen" is mainly used in conversation and in the north). More info on Chinese Stackexchange.

Answer 10

In Taiwanese (with is a subset of the Southern Min dialect), there is a distinction. “Wen” is exclusive; “len” is inclusive.