 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Royal we" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
_(14779402855).jpg)
Theroyalwe, also known as themajestic plural (Latin:pluralis majestatis) orroyal plural, is the use of a pluralpronoun (or correspondingplural-inflected verb forms) by one who is amonarch or high office holder to refer to oneself. A more general term for the use of awe,us, orour to refer to oneself isnosism.
In 1902, after theUnited Kingdom had been asked to arbitrate a boundary dispute betweenArgentina andChile,King Edward VII issued the adjudication of the requested arbitration, known as theCordillera of the Andes Boundary Case. The sentence following the preamble of the award begins as follows:[1]
Now,We, Edward, by the grace of God, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India, etc., etc., have arrived at the following decisions upon the questions in dispute, which have been referred toOur arbitration, ...
In this quotation, underlining has been added to the words that exemplify the use of the majestic plural.
The royalwe is commonly employed by a person of high office, such as a monarch or other type ofsovereign. It is also used in certain formal contexts bybishops and universityrectors.William Longchamp is credited with its introduction to England in the late 12th century, following the practice of theChancery of Apostolic Briefs.[2]
In the public situations in which it is used, the monarch or other dignitary is typically speaking not only in their own personal capacity but also in an official capacity as leader of a nation or institution. In the grammar of several languages, plural forms tend to be perceived as deferential and more polite than singular forms.[citation needed]
In diplomatic letters, such asletters of credence, it is customary for monarchs to use the singular first-person (I,me,my) when writing to other monarchs, while the majestic plural is used in royal letters to a president of a republic.[3]
InCommonwealth realms, the sovereign discharges theircommissions to ranked military officers in the capacity ofwe. Many official documents published in the name of the monarch are also presented with royalwe, such asletters patent,proclamations, etc.
Popes have historically used thewe as part of their formal speech, for example as used inNotre charge apostolique,Mit brennender Sorge, andNon abbiamo bisogno. SincePope John Paul I, however, the royalwe has been dropped by popes in public speech, although formal documents may have retained it. Recent important papal documents still use the majestic plural in the original Latin but are given with the singularI in their official English translations.[4][full citation needed]
In 1989,Margaret Thatcher, thenPrime Minister of the United Kingdom, was met with disdain by some in the press for using the royalwe when announcing to reporters that she had become a grandmother in her "We have become a grandmother" statement.[5]
Several prominentepithets of theBible describe theHebrew God in plural terms:Elohim,Adonai, andEl Shaddai. Many Christian scholars, including the post-apostolic leaders andAugustine of Hippo, have seen the use of the plural and grammatically singular verb forms as support for the doctrine of theTrinity.[6] The earliest known use of this poetic device is somewhere in the 4th century AD, during the Byzantine period; nevertheless, scholars such asMircea Eliade,[7]Wilhelm Gesenius,[8] and Aaron Ember[9] claim thatElohim is a form of majestic plural in theTorah.
InImperial China and every monarchy withinits cultural sphere (includingJapan,Korea,Ryukyu, andVietnam), the majestic imperial pronoun was expressed by thecharacterzhèn (朕,Old Chinese: *lrəmʔ). It was in fact the former Chinese first-personsingular pronoun (that is,'I'). However, following hisunification of China, theChinese emperorQin Shi Huang arrogated it entirely for his personal use. Previously, in the Chinese cultural sphere, the use of the first-person pronoun in formal courtly language was already uncommon, with the nobility using the self-deprecating termguǎrén寡人 ('lonely one') for self-reference, while their subjects referred to themselves aschén臣 ('subject', originally meaning'servant' or'slave'), with an indirect deferential reference likezúxià足下 ('below [your] foot'), or by employing adeferential epithet (such as the adjectiveyú (愚),'foolish'). While this practice did not affect non-Chinese countries as much since their variants ofzhèn (朕) and other terms were generally loanwords, the polite avoidance of pronouns nevertheless spread throughout East Asia.(For more information, see:Japanese pronouns,Korean pronouns, andVietnamese pronouns.) This still persists, except inChina, where, following theMay Fourth Movement and theCommunist Party victory in theChinese Civil War, the use of the first-person pronoun我wǒ, which dates toShang dynasty oracle inscriptions as a plural possessive pronoun, is common.(See alsoChinese Pronouns.)[citation needed] The pronoun 朕 remained in use byJapanese emperors until 1945, whenwatakushi (私) became more favoured.[10]
InHindustani and otherIndo-Aryan languages, the majestic plural is a common way for elders and those of higher social rank to refer to themselves. In certain communities, the first-person singular (Hindi:मैं,romanized: maiṁ,lit. 'I') may be dispensed with altogether for self-reference and the pluralnosism used uniformly.[citation needed]
InIslam, several plural word forms are used to refer toAllah.[11]
InMalaysia, before theYang di-Pertuan Agong takes office, he will first swear an oath where he refers to himself with theMalay first person pluralkami (“we”). This is because His Majesty represents the otherMalay Rulers during his reign as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.[citation needed]
InIndonesia, the royalwe was historically used in thepreambles of early legislative documents, such as Government Regulation No. 1/1945[12] and Law No. 1/1945.[13] This was abandoned in 1946 since the issuance of Government Regulation No. 1/1946[14] and Law No. 1/1946.[15]
In these letters the plural "We" and "Our" are employed instead of "I" and "My," and the letters terminate thus: "Your Good Friend." This form is used mainly for Royal letters to Presidents of Republics.