Singular Wuli ‘we’

단수적 용법의 ‘우리’

This paper strives to characterize the singular use of the possessive marker wuli in Korean, frequently interpreted as ‘our’. Focusing on its singular use and plurality, we argue that wuli is no plural form of nay ‘my’, but that it just marks in-group membership. It is shown that the apparent plurality of wuli only arises as a by-product of the in-group membership marking. It is also presented that age and gender are important factors in selecting between wuli and nay.