At 05:53 PM 12/06/2000 +0000, you wrote:

>>>>

When I said "a concept that doesn't exist in English" I meant
that dual - in the sense of a word having a different form depending
on whether there are two are many - is not found in English.
<<<<
So, unlike English where the use of the "we two" or "we three" is used for
specificity, this form is simply to differentiate between we two as opposed
to "me and many others"?

>>>>

Yes, interesting. One wonders where exactly the boundary lies:)

we two (normal)
we three (normal)
we four (abnormal??)
we five (abnormal?)
<<<<

Well, please keep in mind that my linguistics classes are over 30 years
old. EEK! But I think it would be quite unusual to hear someone say "we
four" or any increased number. And we two or we three is falling into
disuse also. There are variations on the theme: all three of us, both of
us... where "all" replaces "the". Syntactically, "all" has a less formal,
more slangy inference to it than "the". American English is getting far
more casual in consonance with the increasingly casual nature of general
social interaction. But casual language is quite subtle, thus increasing my
awareness of how horribly difficult it must be for someone to learn
American English.

>>>>

Lord John Kane; AoA, OBB http://www.auldbooks.com/bree
Emma inn draumspaka; WOAW, GB 17019 19th Avenue East
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The joy is in the learning; teaching is the best kind of learning.