e-ISSN 2231-8534
ISSN 0128-7702
Toshiko Yamaguchi
Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities, Volume 26, Issue T, December 2018
Keywords: Collectivity, kita 'we, I', Malay language, personal pronoun, singularity
Published on: 24 Dec 2018
This short communication explains that kita 'we' has an alternative usage as a singular personal pronoun, presented as kita 'I'. The usage of kita is classified into six classes, based on its substitutability with saya and the context in which kita occurs. The purpose of this paper is to prove that there are three contexts that render kita a singular pronoun: (i) the speaker refers to people in general to share her point of view; (ii) the speaker wants to share information with a group of people whom she knows; (iii) the speaker exercises negative politeness.
ISSN 0128-7702
e-ISSN 2231-8534
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