Greek to Slovenian: deciding whether we means exactly two people
Modern Greek plural does not specify a pair
Modern Greek distinguishes singular and plural in its personal pronouns and finite verb forms. A Greek first-person plural can therefore refer to the speaker with one other person or with a larger group. Slovenian also has a grammatical dual, making the size of the intended group relevant to target forms in a way that the Greek plural alone does not resolve.
Marc Greenberg’s reference grammar lists midva and feminine medve as first-person dual forms, distinct from the plural forms. They identify a group of two including the speaker. A Greek message from a couple may therefore support a dual interpretation, while a message from a whole team may require a larger-group interpretation. The fact that both source messages use we does not make their target forms identical.
Two people does not identify who the second person is
A pair can include the person addressed or somebody outside the exchange. Greek εμείς does not itself establish that the listener is included. A message saying that we will arrive may come from the speaker and a companion, while an invitation proposing that we go together may include the recipient. This membership distinction must be recovered independently of the decision that the group contains two people.
Greenberg likewise notes that Slovenian first-person dual and plural forms do not by themselves resolve whether the addressee belongs to the group. His example Midva z Miranom greva v Lendavo identifies the speaker and Miran as the pair. The name following the with construction specifies membership; it does not automatically add a third traveller to an already complete two-person subject.
A polite Greek plural may still address one person
Greek second-person plural has another possible interpretation: a single person addressed politely. Politis discusses this politeness plural in the Centre for the Greek Language’s teaching material. Slovenian also uses second-person plural address honorifically, as Greenberg explains. Thus the need to recognize a dual does not mean that every Greek polite plural should become a two-person target form.
Suppose a Greek appointment message is sent formally to one visitor, while another addresses two friends together. The first involves one recipient despite plural grammar; the second genuinely involves two. Target selection must preserve both the number of people and the relationship expressed toward them. Inferring two recipients merely because the source form is not singular would confuse courtesy with counting.
Keep the group stable when the sentence continues
A longer Greek message can begin with a pair and later mention a wider group. Do not assume that every later we refers to exactly the same people if the context explicitly expands the participants. Conversely, naming a companion can clarify an existing pair rather than add another person. These are changes in reference that a grammatical dual can make especially visible.
For this direction, establish the speaker’s group, its size and whether it includes the recipient before selecting Slovenian number forms. Greek plural morphology supplies part of the interpretation, but the conversation supplies the missing membership information. A precise target should express the pair that the source establishes without inventing one where the source describes a team or respectful singular address.
Language references