Pronouns, publics, and power

Abstract

This study examines how multilingual governance is enacted through first-person plural pronoun choice in Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speeches (2004–2023). It analyses we , kita , and kami for how English and Malay versions address distinct linguistic publics. Malay distinguishes kita (inclusive) from kami (exclusive); English encodes inclusivity more flexibly through context. Drawing on 20 speeches, seven bilingual sets were selected for critical discourse analysis of 110 paragraphs. Kita anchors civic solidarity and its clusters mark ideological emphasis; kami signals institutional distance. Grounded in critical discourse analysis and indexicality, the study shows how these contrasts are functionally adapted across languages to differing communicative aims.