Inclusives as a Distinct Person Category, with a Special Focus on Ryukyuan Languages

Abstract

The present study addresses the issue of whether the inclusive and exclusive “we” are equals in the firstperson plural category, an issue which has drawn considerable attention in the typology literature. In fact, there is an ongoing theoretical debate as to whether the inclusive is a first-person pronoun in the first place (e.g., Moskal 2018; Daniel 2005). This paper examines 22 Ryukyuan languages with clusivity opposition from two perspectives. First, it looks at the same and different coding of the pronominal stems of first-person singular (1SG), exclusive (EXCL), and inclusive (INCL) with the assumption that the pronominal stem is a primary indicator of the person feature. It will be shown that all the attested patterns consistently treat EXCL and INCL differently, with a special morphological coding choice, if any, always assigned to INCL, confirming the typological claim that EXCL and INCL are not equals in the personal-pronominal paradigm. The second perspective concerns a common view that INCL is a marked firstperson pronoun with features combining those of first person and those of second person. By a comparison of EXCL, INCL, and 2nd person plural (2PL), it will be shown that such a formulation of INCL is problematic, calling into question the view that INCL is a marked first-person category. The conclusion thus favors the view suggested by Daniel (2005) and Cysouw (2003), who argue that INCL constitutes a distinct person category.