Welsh to Māori: keep the people distinct when the pronoun system changes
Welsh he and she can share one Māori form
The Welsh Foundation guide presents third-person alternatives such as fe or e and hi. Kupu Māori’s pronoun lesson uses ia for either he or she. A Welsh-to-Māori translation can therefore retain the correct individual without showing the same gender distinction in its pronoun.
For an original Welsh account involving a brother and sister, however, that shared target form may leave two possible antecedents. Preserve any source name, role, or event detail that establishes which person is meant. A gender-neutral target pronoun is not automatically wrong, but an interpretation that transfers the brother’s action to the sister would change the account. The source participant remains the reference point even when Māori groups pronoun meanings differently.
One Welsh plural may require an exact pair or a larger group
Kupu distinguishes rāua, they two, from rātou, they three or more. It likewise distinguishes kōrua for two addressees from koutou for three or more. These target forms explicitly convey distinctions absent from an ordinary Welsh plural reference by itself.
A Welsh note may name two colleagues and later call them nhw. In a Māori translation, that continuation should remain a pair where the construction calls for the dual form. It should not silently become an unspecified larger group. If a later sentence adds a third colleague, the target reference may then legitimately change even if Welsh continues using a plural pronoun.
Welsh chi introduces another issue: Canolfan Peniarth explains that it can be formal singular as well as plural. Its respectful use for one recipient does not establish the real pair required by kōrua. Determine the people being addressed before interpreting number, rather than choosing a Māori form because a Welsh verbal ending looks plural.
We also depends on whether the listener is included
Welsh ni must be interpreted through the exchange before choosing a Māori first-person form. In the Foundation guide’s question-and-answer paradigms, the respondent can change verbal person without restating everyone involved. Kupu’s distinction between inclusive tāua and exclusive māua then requires recovering whether that respondent groups themselves with the questioner or with somebody absent.
For an original Welsh arrangement, compare a writer saying that they and a colleague will collect the listener with a writer proposing that the writer and listener collect someone else together. Both involve a source we, but the listener belongs to the acting pair only in the second. A Māori translation needs that membership distinction, rather than a fixed substitution for ni.
This can become less obvious in a short answer. The Welsh Foundation guide teaches person-sensitive verbal replies, so the respondent may confirm a proposition about themselves or their group without repeating a full noun phrase. Recover that group from the question and the actual response. Do not include the questioner in the Māori we merely because the answer addresses them. Likewise, excluding the listener from a joint proposal can turn an invitation to participate into news about somebody else’s plan. Preserve the participants, their count, and whether the listener belongs to the group as separate decisions.
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