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In Spanish grammar, () is the use of as a second-person
singular Singular may refer to: * Singular, the grammatical number that denotes a unit quantity, as opposed to the plural and other forms * Singular homology * SINGULAR, an open source Computer Algebra System (CAS) * Singular or sounder, a group of boar ...
pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun ( abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not ...
, along with its associated verbal forms, in certain regions where the language is spoken. In those regions it replaces , i.e. the use of the pronoun and its verbal forms. can also be found in the context of using verb conjugations for with as the subject pronoun ( verbal voseo), as in the case of
Chilean Spanish Chilean Spanish ( es, español chileno) is any of several varieties of the Spanish language spoken in most of Chile. Chilean Spanish dialects have distinctive pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and slang usages that differ from those of Sta ...
, where this form coexists with the ordinary form of . In all regions with , the corresponding unstressed object pronoun is and the corresponding possessive is . is used extensively as the second-person singular in Rioplatense Spanish (
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
and
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
), Eastern Bolivia, Paraguayan Spanish, and Central American Spanish (
El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...
,
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...
,
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
,
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...
,
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
, southern parts of
Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...
and some parts of
Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the Federative Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipaliti ...
in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
). had been traditionally used even in formal writing in Argentina, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Paraguay, the Philippines and Uruguay. In the dialect of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay (known as ' Rioplatense Spanish'), is also the standard form of use, even in mainstream media. In Argentina, particularly since the last years of the 20th century, it is very common to see billboards and other advertising media using . is present in other countries as a regionalism, for instance in the Maracucho Spanish of Zulia State,
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
(see Venezuelan Spanish), in the
Azuero peninsula Azuero Peninsula ( es, Península de Azuero) is a large peninsula in southern Panama. It is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean in the south; the Pacific and Gulf of Montijo to the west, and by the Gulf of Panama in the east. The peninsula is effecti ...
of
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
, in various
departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
, and in parts of
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
( Sierra down to Esmeraldas). In
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
, is present in some Andean regions and
Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Peru ...
, but the younger generations have ceased to use it. It is also present in Ladino (spoken by
Sephardic Jew Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
s throughout
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
,
the Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
,
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
,
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
), where it replaces . In the United States, Salvadoran Americans are by far the largest users followed by other Central Americans, including Guatemalans, Hondurans, Nicaraguans, and Costa Ricans. is seldom taught to students of Spanish as a second language, and its precise usage varies across different regions. Nevertheless, in recent years it has become more accepted across the Spanish-speaking world as a valid part of regional dialects.


History

Originally a second-person plural, came to be used as a more polite second-person singular pronoun to be used among one's familiar friends. The following extract from a late-18th century textbook is illustrative of usage at the time: The standard formal way to address a person one was not on familiar terms with was to address such a person as ("your grace", originally abbreviated as ) in the singular and in the plural. Because of the literal meaning of these forms, they were accompanied by the corresponding third-person verb forms. Other formal forms of address included ("your excellence", contracted phonetically to ) and ("your lordship/ladyship", contracted to ). Today, both and are considered to be informal pronouns, with being somewhat synonymous with in regions where both are used. This was the situation when the Spanish language was brought to the Río de la Plata area (around
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
and Montevideo) and to Chile. In time, lost currency in Spain but survived in a number of areas in Spanish-speaking America: Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia (east), Uruguay, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and some smaller areas; it is not found, or found only in internally remote areas (such as
Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...
) in the countries historically best connected with Spain: Mexico, Panama, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Perú, and
Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
. evolved into ; in fact, is still abbreviated as either or ). Note that the term is a combined form of (meaning literally "ye/you others"), while the term comes from ("we/us others"). In the first half of the 19th century the use of was as prevalent in Chile as it was in Argentina. The current limitation of the use of in Chile is attributed to a campaign to eradicate it by the Chilean education system. The campaign was initiated by Andrés Bello who considered the use of a manifestation of lack of education.Luizete Guimarães Barros. 1990
''Lengua y nación en la Gramática de Bello''
''Anuario brasileño de estudios hispánicos''.


Usage


''Vos'' in relation to other forms of ''tú''

The independent disjunctive pronoun also replaces , from the set of forms. That is, is both
nominative In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Eng ...
and the form to use after prepositions. Therefore, ("for you") corresponds to the form , etc. The preposition-pronoun combination ("with you") is used for the form .
The direct and indirect object form is used in both and . The possessive pronouns of also coincide with <, , > rather than with <, >.


''Voseo'' in Chavacano

Chavacano Chavacano or Chabacano is a group of Spanish-based creole language varieties spoken in the Philippines. The variety spoken in Zamboanga City, located in the southern Philippine island group of Mindanao, has the highest concentration of speaker ...
, a Spanish-based creole, employs . The Chavacano language below in comparison of other Chavacano dialects and level of formality with in both subject and possessive pronouns. Note the mixed and co-existing usages of , and .


Conjugation with ''vos''

All modern conjugations derive from Old Spanish second person plural , , , and (as in , "you are"). Lapesa Melgar, Rafael. 1970.
Las formas verbales de segunda persona y los orígenes del voseo
, in: Carlos H. Magis (ed.), ''Actas del III Congreso de la Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas'' (México, D.F., 26-31 Aug 1968). México: Colegio de México, 519-531.
The 14th and 15th centuries saw an evolution of these conjugations, with originally giving , giving (or ), García de Diego, Vicente. 9511981. ''Gramática histórica española''. (3rd edition; 1st edition 1951, 2nd edition 1961, 3rd edition 1970, 1st reprint 1981.) Madrid: Gredos, 227-229. giving , and giving . Soon analogous forms and appeared. Hence the variety of forms the contemporary American adopts, some varieties featuring a generalized monophthong (most of them), some a generalized diphthong (e.g. Venezuela), and some combining monophthongs and diphthongs, depending on the conjugation (e.g. Chile). In the most general, monophthongized, conjugation paradigm, a difference between forms and respective forms is visible exclusively in the present indicative, imperative and subjunctive, and, most of the time, in the ''preterite''. Below is a comparison table of the conjugation of several verbs for and for , and next to them the one for , the informal second person plural currently used orally only in Spain; in oratory or legal language (highly formal forms of Spanish) it is used outside of Spain. Verb forms that agree with are stressed on the last syllable, causing the loss of the stem diphthong in those verbs, such as and , which are stem-changing. General conjugation is the one that is most widely accepted and used in various countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, parts of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia, as well as Central American countries. Some Uruguayan speakers combine the pronoun ''tú'' with the ''vos'' conjugation (for example, ''tú sabés''). Conversely, speakers in some other places where both ''tú'' and ''vos'' are used combine ''vos'' with the ''tú'' conjugation (for example, ''vos sabes''). This is a frequent occurrence in the Argentine province of
Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...
. The verb forms employed with ''vos'' are also different in Chilean Spanish: Chileans use and 'you are' instead of or and or . Chileans never pronounce these conjugations with a final ''-s''. The forms for 'you are', and and for 'you have' are also found in Chilean Spanish. In the case of the ending ''-ís'' (such as in ''comís, podís, vivís, erís, venís''), the final ''-s'' is pronounced like any other final in Chilean Spanish. It is most often pronounced as an aspiration similar to the 'h' sound in English. It can also be pronounced as a fricative , or be dropped completely. Its variable pronunciation is a phonological rather than a morphological phenomenon. Venezuelan Maracucho Spanish is notable in that they preserve the diphthongized plural verb forms in all tenses, as still used with ''vosotros'' in Spain. Chilean Spanish also notably uses the diphthong . In Ladino, the ''-áis'', ''-éis'', ''-ís'', & ''-ois'' endings are pronounced , , , & . In Chile, it is much more usual to use ''tú'' + ''vos'' verb conjugation (''tú sabís''). The use of ''pronominal vos'' (''vos sabís'') is reserved for very informal situations and may even be considered vulgar in some cases.


Present indicative

# General conjugation: the final -r of the infinitive is replaced by -s; in writing, an
acute accent The acute accent (), , is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts. For the most commonly encountered uses of the accent in the Latin and Greek alphabets, precomposed ...
is added to the last vowel (i.e. the one preceding the final -s) to indicate stress position. # Chilean: ## the -ar ending of the infinitive is replaced by -ái ## both -er and -ir are replaced by -ís, which sounds more like ''-íh''. # Venezuelan (Zulian): practically the same ending as modern Spanish ''vosotros'', yet with the final -s being aspirated so that: ''-áis'', ''-éis'', ''-ís'' sound like ''-áih'', ''-éih'', ''-íh'' (phonetically resembling Chilean). Unlike ''tú'', which has many irregular forms, the only ''voseo'' verbs that are conjugated irregularly in the indicative present are ''ser'', ''ir'' and ''haber''. However, ''haber'' is seldom used in the indicative present, since there is a strong tendency to use
preterite The preterite or preterit (; abbreviated or ) is a grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past; in some languages, such as Spanish, French, and English, it is equivalent to the simple ...
instead of present perfect.


Affirmative imperative

''Vos'' also differs in its affirmative imperative conjugation from both ''tú'' and ''vosotros''. Specifically, the ''vos'' imperative is formed by dropping the final ''-r'' from the infinitive, but keeping the stress on the last syllable. The only verb that is irregular in this regard is ''ir''; its ''vos'' imperative is not usually used, with ''andá'' (the ''vos'' imperative of ''andar'', which is denoted by *) being generally used instead; except for the Argentine province of Tucumán, where the imperative ''ite'' is used. For most regular verbs ending in ''-ir'', the ''vos'' imperatives use the same conjugations as the ''yo'' form in the
preterite The preterite or preterit (; abbreviated or ) is a grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past; in some languages, such as Spanish, French, and English, it is equivalent to the simple ...
; almost all verbs that are irregular in the preterite (which are denoted by ‡) retain the regular ''vos'' imperative forms. Again, the conjugation of ''tú'' has far more irregularities, whereas ''vos'' has only one irregular verb in the affirmative imperative. In Chile, the general ''vos'' conjugation is not used in the affirmative imperative.


Subjunctive

In most places where ''voseo'' is used, it is applied also in the subjunctive. In the Río de la Plata region, both the ''tú''-conjugation and the ''voseo'' conjugation are found, the ''tú-''form being more common. In this variety, some studies have shown a pragmatic difference between the ''tú''-form and the ''vos''-form, such that the ''vos'' form carries information about the speaker's belief state, and can be stigmatized. For example, in Central America the subjunctive and negative command form is ''no mintás'', and in Chile it is ''no mintái''; however, in Río de la Plata both ''no mientas'' and ''no mintás'' are found. '' Real Academia Española'' models its ''voseo'' conjugation tables on the most frequent, unstigmatized Río de la Plata usage and therefore omits the subjunctive ''voseo''.See for example in ''Real Academia Española'' Dictionary
mentir
o
preocupar
where ''mentís'' and ''preocupás'' are present, but ''mintás'' and ''preocupés'' are missing.


Verbal ''voseo'' and pronominal ''voseo''

* "Verbal ''voseo''" refers to the use of the verb conjugation of ''vos'' regardless of which pronoun is used. :Verbal ''voseo'' with a pronoun other than ''vos'' is widespread in Chile, in which case one would use the pronoun ''tú'' and the verb conjugation of ''vos'' at the same time. E.g.: ''tú venís'', ''tú escribís'', ''tú podís'', ''tú sabís'', ''tú vai'', ''tú estái''. :There are some partially rare cases of a similar sort of verbal ''voseo'' in Uruguay where one would say for example ''tú podés'' or ''tú sabés''. * 'Pronominal ''voseo'' is the use of the pronoun ''vos'' regardless of verb conjugation.


Geographical distribution


Countries where ''voseo'' is predominant

In South America: #
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
— both pronominal and verbal ''voseo'', the pronoun ''tú'' is virtually unused. #
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...
— both pronominal and verbal ''voseo'', the pronoun ''tú'' is virtually unused in most of the country, except in Concepción. #
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
— dual-usage of both pronominal and verbal ''voseo'' and a combination of the pronoun ''tú'' + verb conjugated in the ''vos'' form, except near the Brazilian border, where only pronominal and verbal ''tuteo'' is common. In Central America: #
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...
— both pronominal and verbal ''voseo'' throughout all social classes; the pronoun is often used alongside verb conjugations corresponding to . #
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
— both pronominal and verbal ''voseo'' throughout all social classes; the pronoun ''tú'' is seldom used. #
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...
— both pronominal and verbal ''voseo'' throughout all social classes; the pronoun ''tú'' is seldom used. #
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
— ''voseo'' has historically been used, back in the 2000s it was losing ground to ''ustedeo'' and ''tuteo'', especially among younger speakers. ''Vos'' is now primarily used orally with friends and family in Cartago, Guanacaste province, the San José metropolitan area and near the Nicaraguan border and in advertising signage. ''Usted'' is the primary form in other areas and with strangers. ''Tuteo'' is rarely used, but when it is used in speech by a Costa Rican, it is commonly considered fake and effeminate. #
El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...
: a two-tiered system is used, that indicates the degree of respect or trust: ''usted'', ''vos''. ''Usted'' expresses distance and respect; ''vos'' corresponds to an intermediate level, expressing familiarity, but not deep trust but also the pronoun of maximum familiarity and solidarity, and also lack of respect. But sometimes parents even address their young children as ''usted''.


Countries where it is extensive, but not predominant

In South America: #
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
: in the Lowlands of Eastern Bolivia—with
mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...
, '' Criollo'' and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
descendants majority—( Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, Tarija and the Lowlands of La Paz) ''voseo'' is used universally; while in the Highlands of Western Bolivia—with
indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
majority—(highlands of La Paz, Oruro,
Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world at a nominal . For centuries, it was the location o ...
, Chuquisaca and Cochabamba) ''tú'' is predominant, but there is still a strong use of ''voseo'', especially in verb forms. #
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
: verbal ''voseo'' is spreading north- and southwards from the center, whereas pronominal ''voseo'' is reserved only for very intimate situations or to offend someone. In addition, ''voseo'' in Chile is only used in informal situations; in every other situation, the normal ''tú'' or ''usted'' pronouns are used.


Countries where ''voseo'' occurs in some areas

In the following countries, ''voseo'' is used in certain areas: *
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
, in the departments: **in the west (Pacific Coast) *** Chocó *** Valle del Cauca *** Cauca *** Nariño **in the center, primarily
Paisa Region A Paisa is someone from a region in the northwest of Colombia, including part of the West and Central ''cordilleras'' of the Andes in Colombia. The Paisa region is formed by the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Quindí ...
(Departments of Antioquia, Risaralda, Quindío, and Caldas). **in the (North) East *** Norte de Santander - Ocaña Region *** La Guajira *** Cesar *
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
in the eastern side of the country *
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
in the Sierra, the center, and Esmeraldas *
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
in the west along the border to Costa Rica *
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, in the northwest (primarily in Zulia State) *
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, in
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
and Luzón *
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
, widely used in the countryside of the state of
Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...
, it is becoming rare in Yucatán, Tabasco and Quintana Roo. Mainly used by not-enrolled indigenous people. * Peru, in some areas in both the Northern and Southern ends of the country.


Countries where ''vos'' is virtually absent from usage

In the following countries, the use of ''vos'' has disappeared completely and is not used at all. *
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
*
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
*
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
*
Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...


Synchronic analysis of Chilean and River Plate verbal ''voseo''

The traditional assumption that Chilean and River Plate ''voseo'' verb forms are derived from those corresponding to ''vosotros'' has been challenged as synchronically inadequate in a 2014 article, on the grounds that it requires at least six different rules, including three monophthongization processes that completely lack phonological motivation. Alternatively, the article argues that the Chilean and River Plate ''voseo'' verb forms are synchronically derived from underlying representations that coincide with those corresponding to the non-honorific second person singular ''tú''. First, both Chilean and River Plate has an accentuation rule which assigns stress to the syllable following the verb's root, or its infinitive in the case of the future and
conditional Conditional (if then) may refer to: *Causal conditional, if X then Y, where X is a cause of Y *Conditional probability, the probability of an event A given that another event B has occurred *Conditional proof, in logic: a proof that asserts a co ...
conjugations. This alone derives all the River Plate verb conjugations, in all tenses. Chilean verb forms also undergo rules of semi-vocalization, vowel raising, and aspiration. In semi-vocalization, becomes the
semivowel In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel, glide or semiconsonant is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as the nucleus of a syllable. Examples of semivowels in English are the c ...
when after ; thus, becomes , and becomes 'you are'. The vowel raising rule turns stressed into , so becomes . Aspiration, a normal part of Chilean, and River Plate, Spanish phonology, means that syllable or word-final becomes pronounced like an . The proposed theory requires the use of only one special rule in the case of Chilean ''voseo''. This rule plus other rules that are independently justified in the language make it possible to synchronically derive all the Chilean and River Plate ''voseo'' verb forms in a straightforward manner. The article additionally solves the problem posed by the alternate verbal forms of Chilean ''voseo'' like the future indicative (e.g. ''bailaríh'' or 'you will dance'), the present indicative forms of ''haber'' (''habíh'' and ''hai'' 'you have'), and the present indicative of ''ser'' (''soi'', ''eríh'' and ''eréi'' 'you are'), without resorting to any ad hoc rules. All these different verb forms would come from different underlying representations. The future forms and come from underlying and , the latter related to the historical future form in which was documented in Chile in the 17th century. and come from and , while and come from and . The form also comes from , with an extension of semi-vocalization. The theoretical framework of the article is that of classic generative phonology.


Attitudes

In some countries, the pronoun ''vos'' is used with family and friends ( T-form), like ''tú'' in other varieties of Spanish, and contrasts with the respectful ''usted'' (V-form used with third person) which is used with strangers, elderly, and people of higher socioeconomic status; appropriate usage varies by dialect. In Central America, ''vos'' can be used among those considered equals, while ''usted'' maintains its respectful usage. In Ladino, the pronoun ''usted'' is completely absent, so the use of ''vos'' with strangers and elders is the standard. ''Voseo'' was long considered a backwards or uneducated usage by prescriptivist grammarians. Many Central American intellectuals, themselves from nations, have condemned the usage of in the past. With the changing mentalities in the Hispanic world, and with the development of descriptive as opposed to prescriptive linguistics, it has become simply a local variant of Spanish. In some places it has become symbolically important and is pointed to with pride as a local defining characteristic.


See also

* Similar trends of personal pronouns in Portuguese *
Spanish dialects and varieties Some of the regional varieties of the Spanish language are quite divergent from one another, especially in pronunciation and vocabulary, and less so in grammar. While all Spanish dialects adhere to approximately the same written standard, ...
*
Spanish verbs Spanish verbs form one of the more complex areas of Spanish grammar. Spanish is a relatively synthetic language with a moderate to high degree of inflection, which shows up mostly in Spanish conjugation. As is typical of verbs in virtually all la ...
* T–V distinction#Romance languages


References


Sources

* Díaz Collazos, Ana María
Desarrollo sociolingüístico del voseo en la región andina de Colombia
* ''El voseo'' at Spanish Wikibooks *
''Le Voseo''
*
''Voseo Spanish''
Site dedicated to teaching Argentine Voseo usage * Carricaburo. Norma Beatriz (2003)

* Hotta. Hideo (2000). ttps://web.archive.org/web/20061216061101/http://www.aichi-pu.ac.jp/for/~hotta-hi/hh1997b.htm ''La estandarización y el regionalismo en el voseo del español argentino''* Roca, Luis Alberto (2007). ''Breve historia del habla cruceña y su mestizaje'' * Rosenblat, Ángel (2000)
''El castellano en Venezuela''
* {{in lang, es Toursinov, Antón (2005). ''Formas pronominales de tratamiento en el español actual de Guatemala'' Spanish grammar Personal pronouns Second-person pronouns fr:Dialectologie de la langue espagnole#Voseo