Greek to Indonesian: an institutional we may exclude the people reading the message
The writer’s group and the audience need not coincide
Greek εμείς identifies a first-person plural group, but does not by itself provide the Indonesian inclusive–exclusive distinction. Indonesian kami excludes the listener, while kita includes them. A Greek school, organisation or business writing as we therefore requires a membership decision before the target pronoun is chosen. Choosing the wrong form can turn a statement about what the organisation will do into a shared commitment involving the reader.
Politis’s discussion of school announcements provides a concrete source-side example: a first-person plural can represent the school community speaking with one institutional voice to the parents. That we does not automatically include every parent receiving the announcement. An Indonesian translation should preserve the group represented by the Greek writer, rather than assume that a friendly invitation makes the audience a member of that institutional speaker.
A later invitation can create a different inclusive group
An announcement can then invite its readers to join an activity. If the Greek wording shifts from what the organisers have arranged to what everyone will do together, the intended group can change even while the same first-person plural grammar recurs. The target may consequently need a different inclusive interpretation at that point. Consistency means tracking the people, not forcing one pronoun to stand for every occurrence of we across the document.
The Indonesian documentation records the distinction for first-person plural pronouns rather than as a measure of formality. Kami is not simply a polite version of kita, and kita is not merely a warmer substitute for kami. A Greek message can remain courteous while excluding the reader from the acting group, or be informal while including them. Determine membership from the action and institutional roles rather than derive it from the overall tone.
A possessive can carry the same membership decision
The Greek pronoun lesson distinguishes the weak genitive form μας in possessive use from other personal-pronoun functions. A phrase about our resources can therefore identify the institution as owner, while a later phrase about our shared activity may concern a wider group. The Indonesian documentation includes kami and kita among forms used for we, us and our, so the membership issue is not confined to subject position.
For an original Greek message from an organiser to a participant, a reference to our office need not mean an office jointly owned or staffed by that participant. A reference to our discussion may include them. Preserve those relationships separately rather than translate each μας with a fixed target form. Similarly, Indonesian distinguishes formal and informal personal-pronoun choices elsewhere, but that does not remove the inclusive–exclusive contrast. Resolve whose group is speaking, who joins each action and whose things are being described. The resulting Indonesian wording can then keep the intended audience involved where the Greek includes them, without making them responsible for institutional actions that the source attributes only to the sender.
Language references