Divehi to Slovenian: identify the two people before choosing a dual form
A polite we does not tell you the group’s size
Divehi has a deferential first-person plural expression, aḷugan̆ḍumen̊, which can include an honoured listener. Its courteous character does not establish that the speaker is speaking alone, or that exactly two people are involved. A Slovenian translation needs an independent decision about number because its pronouns and verbs distinguish two participants from a larger group. Converting a respectful source we directly into a dual would silently choose a group size.
The source grammar explains that this deferential first-person expression need not demean other people included in the group. It is therefore misleading to interpret it as a social judgement about everyone represented by we. Slovenian wording must identify the actual participants and preserve an appropriate interpersonal tone without turning source deference into an invented hierarchy among those participants. Courtesy and group membership are separate parts of the message.
Two includes the speaker rather than adding another pair
Greenberg illustrates Slovenian speaker-inclusive dual reference with Midva z Miranom, referring to Miran and the speaker together. It does not mean the speaker plus another unnamed person plus Miran. This matters when a Divehi source identifies a speaker and companion through separate expressions: the target dual already counts the named companion within the pair. Reading it as an additional person would produce an extra participant.
Slovenian also distinguishes first-person dual pronoun forms such as midva and medve. Choosing the appropriate form requires the target agreement features of the actual group. A Divehi plural or deferential expression does not by itself provide all that information. Before expanding a brief source travel plan or shared commitment, determine who belongs to the group; then make the Slovenian pronoun, accompanying name phrase and verb agree with that same membership.
A two-person reference need not contain the speaker
Divehi can explicitly identify a third-person pair through an expression such as e-de-mīhun̊, those two people. This is a useful numerical clue, but it is not a first-person we. Slovenian must retain both the two-person count and the third-person reference. A translator who notices two but defaults to the familiar midva would wrongly insert the writer into an account about other people.
There is a further distinction between counting people and interpreting reflexive relations within their actions. Greenberg notes that plural self-reference can overlap with reciprocal readings and that an additional expression can clarify among themselves. Divehi likewise has ways to express one member acting in relation to another. A source account involving two people helping each other should not become an account in which each helps only themselves just because the Slovenian sentence correctly uses dual agreement. Number answers how many participants there are; reflexive or reciprocal interpretation answers how the action connects them. Establish both from the Divehi clause and its immediate discourse before assembling the target.
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