Pluralis majestatis
Encyclopedia
The majestic plural is the use of a plural
pronoun
to refer to a single person holding a high office, such as a monarch
, bishop
, or pope
. It is also called the royal pronoun, the royal "we" or the Victorian "we." The more general word for the use of we to refer to oneself is nosism, from the Latin nos. It is most commonly used to denote the excellence, power, and dignity of the person that speaks or writes.
In pluralis maiestatis a speaker refers to her- or himself using a grammatical number other than the singular (i.e., in plural or, where attested, dual form). For example, the Basic Law of the Sultanate of Oman opens thus:
, earl or pope
. It is also used in certain formal contexts by bishop
s and university rector
s. William Longchamp
is credited with its introduction to England in the late 12th century, following the practice of the papal chancery. Its first recorded use was in 1169 when King Henry II
, hard pressed by his barons over the Investiture Controversy
, assumed the common theory of "divine right of kings," that the monarch acted conjointly with the deity. Hence, he used "we" as "God and I...," or so the legend goes. (See Rolls Series, 2.12)
In the public situations in which it is used, the monarch or other dignitary is typically speaking, not in his own proper person, but as leader of a nation or institution. Nevertheless, the habit of referring to leaders in the plural has influenced the grammar of several languages, in which plural forms tend to be perceived as deferential and more polite than singular forms. This grammatical feature is common in languages that have the T-V distinction
.
Popes have used the we as part of their formal speech with certain recent exceptions. The English translations of the documents of John Paul II
dispensed with this practice, using the singular "I," even though the Latin original usually continued to use the first person plural "We."
columnist
s in newspapers and similar commentators in other media refer to themselves as we when giving their opinions. Here, the writer has once more cast him- or herself in the role of spokesman
: either for the media institution who employs him, or more generally on behalf of the party or body of citizens who agree with the commentary.
by we (instead of the more common one or the informal you):
"We" in this sense often refers to "the reader and the author," since the author often assumes that the reader knows certain principles or previous theorems for the sake of brevity (or, if not, the reader is prompted to look them up), for example, so that the author does not need to explicitly write out every step of a mathematical proof
.
This practice is also common in philosophy journals and texts, and comments in computer source code.
such as Spanish where the phrase ¿Cómo estamos? (literally, "How are we?") is sometimes used to avoid both over-familiarity and over-formality among near-peer acquaintances.
of India and Sultan
s of Banu Abbas and Banu Umayyah. The royal we is used to express the dignity or highest position either understood as strictly hierarchical or as referential to an alternate "higher" than ego identity.
There are many verses in the Qur'an
where Allah
speaks using the Arabic pronoun nahnu (meaning "we") or its associated suffix. "We" created, "we" sent down, etc. It is also used in the second person in formal diplomatic
language, associated with a style or honorific. For instance, the President
of Egypt
would be addressed as فخامتكم Fakhāmatakum, "Your (plural) Excellency
" in formal diplomatic communications (e.g. diplomatic telegrams).
This usage is also popular among the speakers of the Batangan dialect
of Tagalog
, while some actors and politicians such as Philippine President
Benigno Aquino III
have been known to use the Tagalog
exclusive form
in giving interviews.
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
to refer to a single person holding a high office, such as a monarch
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
, bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
, or pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
. It is also called the royal pronoun, the royal "we" or the Victorian "we." The more general word for the use of we to refer to oneself is nosism, from the Latin nos. It is most commonly used to denote the excellence, power, and dignity of the person that speaks or writes.
In pluralis maiestatis a speaker refers to her- or himself using a grammatical number other than the singular (i.e., in plural or, where attested, dual form). For example, the Basic Law of the Sultanate of Oman opens thus:
The royal "we"
A common example is the royal "we" (pluralis majestatis), which is a nosism employed by a person of high office, such as a monarchMonarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
, earl or pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
. It is also used in certain formal contexts by bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s and university rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
s. William Longchamp
William Longchamp
William Longchamp , sometimes known as William de Longchamp or William de Longchamps, was a medieval Lord Chancellor, Chief Justiciar, and Bishop of Ely in England. Born to a humble family in Normandy, he owed his advancement to royal favour. Although contemporary writers accused Longchamp's father...
is credited with its introduction to England in the late 12th century, following the practice of the papal chancery. Its first recorded use was in 1169 when King Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, hard pressed by his barons over the Investiture Controversy
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such...
, assumed the common theory of "divine right of kings," that the monarch acted conjointly with the deity. Hence, he used "we" as "God and I...," or so the legend goes. (See Rolls Series, 2.12)
In the public situations in which it is used, the monarch or other dignitary is typically speaking, not in his own proper person, but as leader of a nation or institution. Nevertheless, the habit of referring to leaders in the plural has influenced the grammar of several languages, in which plural forms tend to be perceived as deferential and more polite than singular forms. This grammatical feature is common in languages that have the T-V distinction
T-V distinction
In sociolinguistics, a T–V distinction is a contrast, within one language, between second-person pronouns that are specialized for varying levels of politeness, social distance, courtesy, familiarity, or insult toward the addressee....
.
Popes have used the we as part of their formal speech with certain recent exceptions. The English translations of the documents of John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
dispensed with this practice, using the singular "I," even though the Latin original usually continued to use the first person plural "We."
The editorial "we"
The editorial "we" is a similar phenomenon, in which editorialEditorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
s in newspapers and similar commentators in other media refer to themselves as we when giving their opinions. Here, the writer has once more cast him- or herself in the role of spokesman
Spokesman
A spokesperson or spokesman or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have received formal training in journalism, communications, public relations and...
: either for the media institution who employs him, or more generally on behalf of the party or body of citizens who agree with the commentary.
The author's "we"
Similar to the editorial "we" is the practice common in scientific literature of referring to a generic third personGrammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
by we (instead of the more common one or the informal you):
- By adding three and five, we obtain eight.
- We are thus led also to a definition of "time" in physics. – Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
"We" in this sense often refers to "the reader and the author," since the author often assumes that the reader knows certain principles or previous theorems for the sake of brevity (or, if not, the reader is prompted to look them up), for example, so that the author does not need to explicitly write out every step of a mathematical proof
Mathematical proof
In mathematics, a proof is a convincing demonstration that some mathematical statement is necessarily true. Proofs are obtained from deductive reasoning, rather than from inductive or empirical arguments. That is, a proof must demonstrate that a statement is true in all cases, without a single...
.
This practice is also common in philosophy journals and texts, and comments in computer source code.
The patronizing "we"
The patronizing "we" is sometimes used in addressing instead of "you," hinting a facetious assurance that the one asked is not alone in his situation, that "I am with you, we are in this together." A doctor may ask a patient: And how are we feeling today? This usage is emotionally non-neutral and usually bears a condescending, ironic, praising, or some other flavor, depending on an intonation: "Aren't we looking cute?" In distinction to the patronizing "we" is the non-confrontative "we" used in T-V languagesT-V distinction
In sociolinguistics, a T–V distinction is a contrast, within one language, between second-person pronouns that are specialized for varying levels of politeness, social distance, courtesy, familiarity, or insult toward the addressee....
such as Spanish where the phrase ¿Cómo estamos? (literally, "How are we?") is sometimes used to avoid both over-familiarity and over-formality among near-peer acquaintances.
Non-Western usage
The tradition of the royal we may also be traced to the MughalsMughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
of India and Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
s of Banu Abbas and Banu Umayyah. The royal we is used to express the dignity or highest position either understood as strictly hierarchical or as referential to an alternate "higher" than ego identity.
There are many verses in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
where Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
speaks using the Arabic pronoun nahnu (meaning "we") or its associated suffix. "We" created, "we" sent down, etc. It is also used in the second person in formal diplomatic
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
language, associated with a style or honorific. For instance, the President
President of Egypt
The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the head of state of Egypt.Under the Constitution of Egypt, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Egyptian government....
of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
would be addressed as فخامتكم Fakhāmatakum, "Your (plural) Excellency
Excellency
Excellency is an honorific style given to certain members of an organization or state.Usually, people styled "Excellency" are heads of state, heads of government, governors, ambassadors, certain ecclesiastics, royalty, aristocracy, and military, and others holding equivalent rank .It is...
" in formal diplomatic communications (e.g. diplomatic telegrams).
This usage is also popular among the speakers of the Batangan dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
of Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
, while some actors and politicians such as Philippine President
President of the Philippines
The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...
Benigno Aquino III
Benigno Aquino III
Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III , also known as Noynoy Aquino or PNoy, is a Filipino politician who has been the 15th and current President of the Philippines since June 2010....
have been known to use the Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
exclusive form
Clusivity
In linguistics, clusivity is a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first-person pronouns and verbal morphology, also called inclusive "we" and exclusive "we"...
in giving interviews.
Other miscellaneous uses
Other instances of use:- We are not amused. – Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United KingdomVictoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
(in at least one account of this quotation, though, she was not speaking for herself alone, but for the ladies of the court.) - In his abdication statement, Nicholas II of RussiaNicholas II of RussiaNicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
uses the pluralis maiestatis liberally, as in "In agreement with the Imperial Duma, We have thought it well to renounce the Throne of the Russian Empire and to lay down the supreme power." - In a frequently-repeated story, United States NavyUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
AdmiralAdmiralAdmiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
Hyman G. RickoverHyman G. RickoverHyman George Rickover was a four-star admiral of the United States Navy who directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of Naval Reactors...
told a subordinate who used the royal we: "Three groups are permitted that usage: pregnant women, royalty, and schizophrenics. Which one are you?" - Another remark is often attributed to Mark Twain: "Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial 'we.
- In the movie The Big LebowskiThe Big LebowskiThe Big Lebowski is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski, an unemployed Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler, who is referred to as "The Dude". After a case of mistaken identity, The Dude is introduced to a millionaire also named...
, the Dude claims to use either the "royal we" or the "editorial we" as he attempts to hide the fact that "the modest task which was [his] charge" was performed with the aid of his associate Walter Sobchak, when it was specifically stated that he perform it alone. - In Valkyria ChroniclesValkyria Chroniclesis a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3. The game was released in 2008.The game is set in Europa, loosely based on Europe in 1935...
, Maximilian, an imperial prince who is the story's primary antagonist, consistently refers to himself as "We" and "Us" throughout the dialogue, with the first letter of each always uppercase. In the Japanese version, he uses the word "yo," which is also a majestic plural in that language. - In the television show My Little Pony: Friendship is MagicMy Little Pony: Friendship is MagicMy Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is an animated television series that premiered on October 10, 2010 on the United States cable network The Hub, and is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works. The series is produced by Hasbro Studios and DHX Media Vancouver...
, throughout the episode "Luna Eclipsed", Princess Luna uses the royal we.
See also
- ElohimElohimElohim is a grammatically singular or plural noun for "god" or "gods" in both modern and ancient Hebrew language. When used with singular verbs and adjectives elohim is usually singular, "god" or especially, the God. When used with plural verbs and adjectives elohim is usually plural, "gods" or...
, a plural name of the Hebrew GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism.... - Rastafarian vocabulary – "I and I"
- T-V distinctionT-V distinctionIn sociolinguistics, a T–V distinction is a contrast, within one language, between second-person pronouns that are specialized for varying levels of politeness, social distance, courtesy, familiarity, or insult toward the addressee....
- WeWeWe is the first-person, plural personal pronoun in Modern English.- Atypical uses of we : A nosism is the use of 'we' to refer to oneself....