Gujarati: Royal We

[doom9]

Just wondering, as Hum is used in Hindi as the royal we, is Ame used in Gujarati?

I have Zee Gujarati and on Jai Santoshi Ma, the king sometimes says Ame or Amaaru even when talking about himself.

My family only uses Ame as the actual exclusive we, not a royal we.

 

[linguist786]

To be honest, my family only tend to use "ame" for all forms of "we". We speak a rather slangy and dirty type of Gujarati.

In Shuddh Gujarati, I know we have both આપણે (aapNe) and અમે (ame) but we don't tend to differentiate between them, even though one is the "inclusive we" (aapNe) and the other "exclusive we" (ame).

I don't really understand though - apart from "hum" in Hindi, what other word is there for "we"? And also, can you give an example (sentence) of what the king says in that programme.

 

[doom9]

Pretty much normal stuff except instead of Hun, he says Ame and changes the grammar accordingly. (lazy to type in Gujarati script)

Amne maaf kari do.
(Forgive me)

Ame etla kehvaa maangie chhie ...
(All I want to say is...)

Amaari bhool hati.
(It was my mistake)

Stuff like that.

According to my mom, we speak Gamwadia Gujarati (Village). It's stuff like.

Hun thayu? (Shu thayu?)
(What happened)
Tu shu karu chhu? (Tu shu kare chhe?)
(What are you doing?)
Aapde kyaare khaavaanu? (Aapne kyaare khaavanu?)
Tame haambro chho? (Tame saambhlo chho?)
(Are you listening?)

Our family doesn't use hun for shu that much.

 

[panjabigator]

Are you Surati? I know lot's of my Gujarati friends from Surat speak similarly.

 

[linguist786]

"Tu shu karu Chu?" sounds very strange to me and I would never say it.

I, being Bharuchi, always say "hu" and not "shu". We change the "sh"/"s" sound to "h" quite often (like in સામભળવું). I speak gaamaryaa gujarati.

About the "ame" instead of "huN", it doesn't sound very strange to me. I can't really explain it to be honest. "Amne maaf kari do" literally means "forgive us" but I can imagine somebody saying it to mean "forgive me". (I wouldn't tend to say it myself though). I guess the best way I can explain it is how we sometimes hear British teenagers saying stuff like "Come on, give it to us!" (Give it to me)

 

[panjabigator]

Mo, are you familiar with the royal we in Hindi? Lot's of Biharis use it.

 

[linguist786]

What is the "royal we" in Hindi?

 

[panjabigator]

The usage of "Hum" as the first person.

/Ham aapkii baat samajhte hai.n/
/ab ham to bhae, pardesi ye teraa yahaa.n koii nahii.n/ (song lyric)
/ham to bhaii jaise hai.n, vaise rahe.nge/
/ek ho gaye ham aur tum, to uD gaye ninde re aur khankii paayal mastii me.n to kangan khanke re/ (from the song Humma, Bombay).

The movie "Hum Tum!"

Hindi movie can be good

I'll see if I can dig up some youtube videos with its usage.

 

[panjabigator]

Just wondering, as Hum is used in Hindi as the royal we, is Ame used in Gujarati?

I have Zee Gujarati and on Jai Santoshi Ma, the king sometimes says Ame or Amaaru even when talking about himself.

My family only uses Ame as the actual exclusive we, not a royal we.

Have you ever seen the Mahabharat? Characters also speak with the "royal we." In my experience with Hindi, it is only used colloquially in some rural regions, and in Bihar and Eastern UP, its usage is completely mainstream. If you don't already use it, than don't start I sometimes joke to my father using this royal "ham" as the first person and he responds with "tum kitne log ho?"

 

[linguist786]

I seeeeeee. So this is what you mean by "royal we"! Sorry, I'm slow

I can't say I've really noticed it to be honest. It's one of those things I don't pay particular attention to. If I was to hear it, I wouldn't think too much of it, a bit like my view of it in Gujarati. But I wouldn't use it myself (and I won't start to!).

But it's interesting to learn about this. (and I like your father's response )

 

[SouthGujarat]

Sorry to open this can of worms after 15 years, but just to clarify, there is a clear distinction between અમે and આપણે. અમે is exclusive 'we' and આપણે is inclusive 'we'.

By this I mean when saying આપણે to Bob, you are including Bob in the scenario in the rest of the sentence. When saying અમે to Bob, you are excluding Bob.

E.g. 2 people went on holiday, A and B. C didn't go on holiday. When A talks to B about the holiday, A will use આપણે for 'we'. આપણે ફરવા ગયા હતા (We went on holiday). On the other hand, when A talks to C about the holiday, A will use અમે for 'we'. અમે ફરવા ગયા હતા (We went on holiday [but not you] ).