Greek to Tahitian: identifying both people behind a plural pronoun
Greek we leaves two questions unanswered
Modern Greek first-person plural identifies a group containing the speaker, but its form alone does not say that the group has exactly two people or that the listener belongs to it. Tahitian can distinguish these relationships through its dual pronouns. A Greek message from a pair therefore needs more interpretation than replacing εμείς with a general equivalent of we.
The official Reo Tahiti CM2 textbook contrasts tāua, the speaker plus the addressee, with māua, the speaker plus another person. Both involve two people. The difference is membership, not a larger or smaller number. A Greek invitation proposing that the writer and recipient go somewhere and a report about the writer travelling with somebody else can consequently need different target pronouns.
A pair may exclude the current reader
Suppose a Greek message says that we will visit tomorrow and the preceding sentence names the writer’s companion. If the recipient is waiting at the destination, that recipient is not necessarily one of the travellers. Choosing an inclusive Tahitian dual would make the reader part of the travelling pair rather than the person receiving them. The date and destination could be correct while the participants are wrong.
Conversely, a Greek proposal meaning that you and I should go together should not become a report about the writer and an unnamed third person. The source may express inclusion through an explicit you-and-I phrase, a shared plan or the surrounding exchange. Such evidence determines which pair the message identifies; the bare first-person plural does not settle it on its own.
A named companion need not add another person
The textbook also presents third-person dual rāua and illustrates a phrase naming Heimana and his grandfather. Its teaching note supplies both a coordination with and and a construction using the dual form. These are alternative ways of expressing the pair in the example, rather than evidence that the grandfather is added to two already counted people.
This matters when translating Greek name lists and coordinated subjects. A Greek phrase naming two people establishes a pair even if its verb is simply plural. Rebuilding that expression with Tahitian dual grammar must preserve those same two people. Counting a dual pronoun as two anonymous participants and then adding every name that follows can inflate the group incorrectly.
Polite Greek plural is a different issue from dual number
Greek second-person plural can address one person politely. That use should not become a Tahitian two-person interpretation merely because the source form looks plural. Establish whether the Greek text counts recipients or expresses a relationship with a single recipient before deciding how many people the target pronoun represents. Courtesy and group membership answer different questions.
The CM2 passage illustrates four dual relationships, including two addressees and two third persons, alongside the two first-person choices. For Greek-to-Tahitian translation, identify the participants explicitly: speaker, listener and anyone outside the exchange. Then determine whether exactly two are involved. This preserves the source plan without quietly inviting the wrong person, excluding the intended companion or turning respectful singular address into a group of two.
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