Welsh to Armenian: formal you can still refer to one person
The Welsh pronoun does not provide a headcount
Canolfan Peniarth explains that chi serves plural reference and formal address, whereas ti belongs to informal address. A Welsh sentence using chi may therefore concern a single recipient. The official Foundation guide uses these pronouns in its future and conditional paradigms.
Armenian Universal Dependencies describes formal Դուք as referring to a singular addressee while combining with second-person plural verbs. It distinguishes this from ordinary plural դուք, noting the capital letter in the formal pronoun. A Welsh-to-Armenian translation should preserve both the intended number of recipients and the address relationship. A plural-shaped target verb does not by itself prove that the translator has added people.
A shared form can carry different communicative relationships
The Armenian documentation states that formal and ordinary plural forms are phonologically equivalent across their cases, while the formal distinction is reflected orthographically. The written distinction therefore contributes information that cannot be inferred simply from hearing a plural-shaped form.
For an original Welsh appointment request, one unfamiliar visitor may receive a chi-based message asking when they will arrive. Another chi-based message might be sent to several participants together. The Armenian translation must not decide between them by counting only verb endings. The addressee supplied by the message determines whether the source concerns one formal recipient or a real group.
A later Welsh sentence can refer to that recipient’s booking without repeating their name. The Armenian continuation should remain attached to the same person or group rather than treating a formally plural pattern as evidence that the booking has become a group reservation. Number in the communicative situation and number used in respectful agreement need to be interpreted separately.
The pronoun’s case can change without changing the addressee
Armenian documentation distinguishes the subject reference carried by a pronoun from other grammatical roles and describes case-marked objects and oblique expressions. Its account of polite pronouns explicitly extends the formal-versus-plural comparison to their case forms.
An original Welsh message can first ask the recipient a question, then report that a colleague contacted the recipient, and finally refer to something arranged for that recipient. The same person moves through different event roles. A target form that changes with role does not automatically introduce a new person or reduce the formality of the exchange. Identify who is being addressed independently of whether they are subject, contacted participant, or beneficiary.
A respectful statement can still be negative or interrogative
The Welsh Foundation tables distinguish positive, negative, and question patterns for the same chi-based subject. For example, its conditional ability paradigm separates a claim about being able to pay from a denial and an enquiry.
A formal Armenian pronoun cannot substitute for that distinction. An original Welsh question about whether one recipient could attend needs to remain a question; it should not become an instruction merely because respectful wording is appropriate. Similarly, declining an arrangement should not become permission for several people to attend. Preserve the source’s actual recipient, its respectful relationship, and whether it asks, asserts, or denies something about that recipient. These meanings operate together rather than being recoverable from capitalization alone.
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