In studies of T/V address systems, research typically ignores plural forms in favor of their singular counterparts. We show that there is widespread asymmetry between singular and plural T/V forms in Castilian Spanish, and that the historically T plural vosotros often serves as the plural of both tú (T) and usted (V). Our data consist of naturally-occurring examples, interviews with a dozen Spaniards across three generations, and the results of an online survey that polled speakers about their pronominal choices when offered three scenarios involving multiple interlocutors, some addressed as tú and others as usted in the singular. In each scenario, respondent use of vosotros in the plural was significantly higher than their corresponding use of tú in the singular.
(2010) Forms of address in Chilean Spanish. Hispania, 93, 413–429.
Brown, P., & Levinson, S.C.
(1987) Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Carricaburo, N.
(1997) Las fórmulas de tratamiento en el español actual. Madrid: Arco/Libros.
Fernández Martín, E.
(2012) La oposición vosotros/ustedes en la historia del español peninsular (1700-1931). Unpublished PhD dissertation, Universidad de Granada.
Fontanella de Weinberg, M.B.
(1999) Sistemas pronominales de tratamiento usados en el mundo hispánico. In I. Bosque & V. Demonte (Eds.), Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española (pp. 1399–1425). Madrid: Espasa-Calpe.
(2014) Si ustedes queréis: Variation in second person plural subject pronouns in Andalusian Spanish. Presented at the
Hispanic Linguistics Symposium
, Purdue University.
Lara Bermejo, V.
(2010) El uso de ustedes por vosotros en Andalucía Occidental. Master’s Project, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
Moreno de Alba, J.G.
(1992) Minucias del lenguaje. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
No vais a poder conmigo (200824April). Retrieved from [URL]
Poplack, S. & Dion, N.
(2009) Prescription vs. praxis: The evolution of future temporal reference in French. Language, 85, 557–587.
Real Academia Española
(1974) Esbozo de una nueva gramática de la lengua española. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe.
Real Academia Española
(2009) Nueva gramática de la lengua española (2 Vols). Madrid: Espasa.
Schwenter, S.A.
(1993) Diferenciación dialectal por medio de pronombres: el uso de tú y usted en España y México. Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica, 41, 127–49.
XiaoRoel
(20115May). Español neutro, ¿ustedes o vosotros? Retrieved from [URL].
Zayas-Bazán, E., Bacon, S.M., & Nibert, H.J.
(2014) ¡Arriba! Comunicación y cultura (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Cited by
Cited by 5 other publications
Collins, Chris & Francisco Ordóñez
2021. Spanish usted as an imposter. Probus 33:2 ► pp. 249 ff.
Collins, Chris & Francisco Ordóñez
2021. Spanish usted as an imposter. Probus 33:2 ► pp. 249 ff.
Fernández-Mallat, Víctor & David Barrero
2023. Changes and continuities in second person address pronoun usage in Bogotá Spanish. Open Linguistics 9:1
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 17 november 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.