Voseo

In Spanish grammar, () is the use of as a second-person singular pronoun, 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).

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 and Uruguay), Chilean Spanish, Eastern Bolivia, Paraguayan Spanish, and much of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica); in Mexico, in the southern regions of Chiapas and parts of Oaxaca. It is rarely used, if at all, in places such as Cuba and Puerto Rico.

had been traditionally used in Argentina, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, the Philippines and Uruguay, even in formal writing. In the dialect of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay (known as 'Rioplatense'), the usage of is prevalent, even in mainstream film, media and music. In Argentina, particularly from the second half of the 20th century, it has become very common to see billboards and other advertising campaigns using .

is present in some regions of other countries, for instance in the Maracucho Spanish of Zulia State, Venezuela (see Venezuelan Spanish), the Azuero peninsula of Panama, in a few departments in Colombia, and in parts of Ecuador ( Sierra down to Esmeraldas). In Peru, is present in certain Andean regions and Cajamarca, but the younger generations have ceased to use it. It is also present in Judaeo-Spanish, spoken by Sephardic Jews, where it is the archaic plural form that replaced.

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 commonly accepted across the Hispanophone world as a valid part of regional dialects.

History

Classical Latin, and the Vulgar Latin from which Romance languages such as Spanish are descended, had only two second-person pronounsthe singular and the plural . Starting in the early Middle Ages, however, languages such as French and Spanish began to attach honorary significance to these pronouns beyond literal number. Plural pronouns were often used to refer to a person of respect to aggrandize them. , the second-person plural inherited from Latin, came to be used in this manner.

Already by the late 18th century, however, itself was restricted to politeness among one's familiar friends. The following extract from a 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 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) in the countries historically best connected with Spain: Mexico, Panama, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Equatorial Guinea. 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 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, a Spanish-based creole spoken in the Philippines, employs , while the standard Spanish spoken in the country does not. 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.

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 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 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; 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 – both pronominal and verbal ''voseo'', the pronoun ''tú'' is not preferred.
# Paraguay – both pronominal and verbal ''voseo'', the pronoun ''tú'' is uncommon in most of the country.
# Uruguay – 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 – three-tiered system is used to indicate the degree of respect or familiarity: ''usted'', ''tú'', ''vos''. ''Usted'' expresses distance and respect; ''tú'' corresponds to an intermediate level of familiarity, but not deep trust; ''vos'' is the pronoun of maximum familiarity and solidarity. Pronominal ''tú'' is frequent with verbal ''voseo''.
# Honduras – three-tiered system is used to indicate the degree of respect or familiarity: ''usted'', ''tú'', ''vos''. ''Usted'' expresses distance and respect; ''tú'' corresponds to an intermediate level of familiarity, but not deep trust; ''vos'' is the pronoun of maximum familiarity and solidarity.
# Nicaragua – both pronominal and verbal voseo throughout all social classes; ''tú'' is mostly used in writing''.
# Costa Rica – ''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 – three-tiered system is used to indicate the degree of respect or familiarity: ''usted'', ''tú'', ''vos''. ''Usted'' expresses distance and respect; ''tú'' corresponds to an intermediate level of familiarity, but not deep trust; ''vos'' is the pronoun of maximum familiarity and solidarity and also lack of respect.

Countries where ''voseo'' is extensive, but not predominant

In South America:
# Bolivia – in the Lowlands of Eastern Bolivia—with mestizo, '' Criollo'' and German 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 majority—(highlands of La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Chuquisaca and Cochabamba) ''tú'' is predominant, but there is still a strong use of ''voseo'', especially in verb forms.
# Chile – verbal ''voseo'' and pronominal ''tú'' is used in informal situations, whereas pronominal ''voseo'' is reserved only for very intimate situations or to offend someone. In every other situation and in writing, the normal ''tú'' or ''usted'' pronouns are used.

Countries where ''voseo'' occurs in some areas

In the following countries, ''voseo'' is used only in certain areas:
* Colombia – in the following departments:
**In the west (along the Pacific coast):
*** Chocó
*** Valle del Cauca
*** Cauca
*** Nariño
**In the center – primarily the Paisa region ( Antioquia, Risaralda, Quindío, and Caldas Departments).
**In the (north)east:
*** Norte de Santander – Ocaña region
*** La Guajira
***Cesar
* Cuba – in Camagüey Province, often used alongside ''tú''.
* Ecuador – in the Sierra, the center, and Esmeraldas.
* Mexico – widely used in the countryside of the state of Chiapas by indigenous populations and becoming rare among the same groups in the state of Tabasco.
* Panama – in the west along the border with Costa Rica.
* Peru – in some areas in both the Northern and Southern ends of the country.
* Puerto Rico – At the eastern end of the island in Fajardo.
* The Philippines – among Chavacano speakers in Mindanao and Luzon, but otherwise absent in standard Spanish.
* Spain – in La Gomera island, in The Canaries, often used alongside ''tú''.
* The United States – Found among speakers with origins in countries where ''voseo'' is predominant—for instance, among Honduran Americans. In other circumstances, ''tú'' is used by default.
* Venezuela – in the northwest (primarily in Zulia State).

Countries where ''voseo'' is virtually absent

In the following countries, ''voseo'' has disappeared completely among the native population:
* Dominican Republic
* Peninsular Spain

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

The traditional assumption that the 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 lacks 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''. In both Chilean and Rioplatense Spanish, the form assigns stress to the syllable following the verb's root, or its infinitive in the case of the future and conditional conjugations. This alone derives all the Rioplatense verb conjugations, in all tenses. Chilean verb forms also undergo rules of semi-vocalization, vowel raising, and aspiration. In semi-vocalization, becomes the semivowel when after ; thus, becomes , and becomes 'you are'. The vowel raising rule turns stressed into , so becomes . Aspiration, the norm in both Chilean and Rioplatense Spanish, 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 , which was documented in Chile in the 17th century. and come from and , while and come from and . The form also comes from , with additional 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 backward 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
*Spanish verbs
*T–V distinction
* T–V distinction in the world's languages#Romance languages

References

Sources

* Díaz Collazos, Ana María. ''Desarrollo sociolingüístico del voseo en la región andina de Colombia (1555–1976)''
* ''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