Cover not available

In:Forms of Address in the Spanish of the Americas
Edited by María Irene Moyna and Susana Rivera-Mills
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 10] 2016
► pp. 149–170

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Second person singular forms in Cali Colombian Spanish

Enhancing the envelope of variation

 | St. Bonaventure University
Published online: 25 August 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.10.08new
Inspired by previous research, this investigation includes both social and linguistic variables in analyses of production of second person singular forms in Cali, Colombian Spanish. Preliminary analyses had found similarities between the forms; to clarify variation, there are three separate analyses (tú/vos, tú/usted, vos/usted). Twenty-one participants completed an oral-discourse completion task. Results show tú and vos pattern similarly by age and relationship but differ by gender, social network, and all linguistic variables. Tú and usted differ by age, relationship, verbal frequency, and subject pronoun expression. Vos and usted differ by all social factors and show similar rates of subject pronoun expression. The analysis complements previous research on this phenomenon and enhances the envelope of variation by more descriptively reporting variation.
References (48)
References
Barron, A. (2006). Learning to say ‘you’ in German: The acquisition of sociolinguistic competence in a study abroad context. In M.A. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 59-88). Clevendon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baumler-Schreffler, S. (1994). Second person singular pronoun options in the speech of Salvadorans in Houston, Texas. Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 13, 101-119.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bayona, P. (2006). Sociolinguistic competences in the use of Colombian pronouns of address. In C. Gurski & M. Radisic (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2006 Canadian Linguistics Association Annual Conference , Vol. 23 (pp. 1-14). Available from <[URL]>
Bentivoglio, P. & Sedano, M. (1993). Investigación sociolingüística: Sus métodos aplicados a una experiencia venezolana. Boletín de Lingüística, 8, 3-35.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., & Kasper, G. (Eds.). (1989). Cross-cultural pragmatics: Requests and apologies. Norwood NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bucholtz, M. (2009). From stance to style: Gender, interaction, and indexicality in Mexican immigrant youth slang. In A. Jaffe (Ed.), Stance: Sociolinguistic perspectives (pp. 146-170). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bybee, J. (1995). Regular morphology and the lexicon. Language and Cognitive Processes, 10, 425-455. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2006). From usage to grammar: The mind’s response to repetition. Language, 82, 711-733. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2007). Frequency of use and the organization of language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bybee, J., & Eddington, D. (2006). A usage-based approach to Spanish verbs of ‘becoming’. Language, 82, 323-355. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cameron, R., & Flores-Ferrán, N. (2004). Perseverance of subject expression across regional dialects. Spanish in Context, 1(1), 41-65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carvalho, A. (2010). ¿Eres de la frontera o sos de la capital? Variation and alternation of second person verbal forms in Uruguayan border Spanish. Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 29(1), 1-23.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadísticas. (2005). Censo.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Du Bois, J.W. (2007). The stance triangle. In R. Englebretson (Ed.), Stancetaking in discourse: Subjectivity, evaluation, interaction (pp. 139–182). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Erker, D., & Guy, G. (2012). The role of lexical frequency in syntactic variability: Variable subject personal pronoun expression in Spanish. Language, 88(2), 526-557. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flores-Ferrán, N. (2004). Spanish subject personal pronoun use in New York City Puerto Ricans: Can we rest the case of English contact? Language Variation and Change, 16, 49-73. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geeslin, K.L., García-Amaya, L.A., Hasler-Barker, M., Henriksen, N.C., & Killam, J. (2010). The SLA of direct object pronouns in a study abroad immersion environment where use is variable. In C. Borgonovo, M. Español-Echevarría, & P. Prévost (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 12th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 246-259). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geeslin, K., & Guijarro-Fuentes, P. (2006). The second language acquisition of variable structures in Spanish by Portuguese speakers. Language Learning, 56(1), 53-107. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldberg, A. (1995). Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gudmestad, A. (2006). L2 variation and the Spanish subjunctive: Linguistic features predicting mood selection. In C.A. Klee & T.L. Face (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 7th Conference on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as First and Second Languages (pp. 170-184). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gutiérrez-Rivas, C. (2010). Los usos de “tú” y “ud.” en los actos de habla: Una aproximación a la pragmática del bilingüe. Alpha, 31, 85-102. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hassal, T. (2006). Learning to take leave in social conversations: A diary study. In M.A. DuFon & E. Churchill (Eds.), Language learners in study abroad contexts (pp. 31-58). Clevendon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kasper, G. (2000). Data collection in pragmatics. In H. Spencer-Oatey (Ed.), Culturally speaking (pp. 316-341). London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kinginger, C., & Farrell, K. (2004). Assessing development of meta-pragmatic awareness in study abroad. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 10, 19-42.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Labov, W. (2001). Principles of linguistic change, Volume II: Social factors. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maestre Moreno, P. (2010). Alternancia de formas de tratamiento como estrategia discursiva en conversaciones colombianas. In M. Hummel, B. Kluge, & M.E. Vázquez Laslop (Eds.), Formas y fórmulas de tratamiento en el mundo hispánico (pp. 1033-1049). Mexico City/Graz: El Colegio de México/Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Márquez-Reiter, R., & Placencia, M.E. (2005). Spanish pragmatics. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Michnowicz, J., & Place, S. (2010). Perceptions of second person singular pronoun use in San Salvador, El Salvador. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 3(2), 353-377. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Milroy, L. (1987). Language and social networks (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Millán, M. (2010). Pronominal address in two varieties of Colombian Spanish. Paper presented at 14th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium , Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, October 14-17, 2010.
Murillo Fernández, M.E. (2003). El polimorfismo en los pronombres de tratamiento del habla payanesa. Actes du Colloque Pronoms de deuxième personne et formes d’adresse dans les langues d’Europe. Paris: Instituto Cervantes.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Newall, G. (2010). The subjective component of variation: Second person singular forms in Cali Colombian Spanish. Paper presented at 14th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium , Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, October 14-17, 2010.
. (2012). Second person singular forms in Caleño Spanish: Applying a theory of language regard. (Unpublished PhD dissertation). Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ochs, E. (1992). Indexing gender. In A. Duranti & C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking context: Language as an interactive phenomenon (pp. 335–358). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Páez Urdaneta, I. (1981). Historia y geografía hispanoamericana del voseo. Caracas: Casa de BelloGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Poplack, S., & Malvar, E. (2007). Elucidating the transition period in linguistic change: the expression of the future in Brazilian Portuguese. Probus, 19, 121-169. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Poplack, S., & Tagliamonte, S. (1999). The grammaticalization of going to in (African American) English. Language Variation and Change, 11, 315-342. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Poplack, S., & Turpin, D. (1999). Does the FUTUR have a future in (Canadian) French? Probus, 11, 133-164. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sankoff, D., Tagliamonte, S., & Smith, E. (2005). Goldvarb X: A variable rule application for Macintosh and Windows. Department of Linguistics, University of Toronto.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schwenter, S.A. (1993). Diferenciación dialectal por medio de pronombres: Una comparación del uso de tú y usted en España y México. Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica, 41(1), 127-49.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Siegal, M. (1994). Looking east: Learning Japanese as a second language in Japan and the interaction of race, gender and social context. (Unpublished PhD dissertation). University of California, Berkeley, CA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simpson, J.M. (2005). The ‘American voseo’ in Cali, Colombia: An ethnographic study. Romansk Forum, 15, 25-32.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres Cacoullos, R. (2011). Variation and grammaticalization. In M. Díaz-Campos (Ed.), Handbook of Hispanic sociolinguistics (pp. 148-167). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Travis, C. (2006). The communicative realisation of confianza and calor humano in Colombian Spanish. In C. Goddard (Ed.), Ethnopragmatics: Understanding discourse in cultural context (pp. 199-229). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Uber, D.R. (1984). The pronouns of address in the Spanish of Bogotá, Colombia. The SECOL Review, 8, 59-74.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1985). The dual function of usted: Forms of address in Bogotá, Colombia. Hispania, 68(2), 388-392. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2011). Forms of address: The effect of the context. In M. Díaz-Campos (Ed.), Handbook of Hispanic sociolinguistics (pp. 244-262). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (9)

Cited by nine other publications

Denbaum-Restrepo, Nofiya
2025. Implicit language attitudes toward polymorphism of second person singular forms of address in Medellín, Colombia. In Beyond Binaries in Address Research [Topics in Address Research, 6], ► pp. 69 ff. DOI logo
Zwisler, Joshua James
2025. Tú, Usted e Ibagué: Las formas de tratamiento en una ciudad regional. Lenguaje 53:2 ► pp. e20514772 ff. DOI logo
Fernández-Mallat, Víctor & David Barrero
2023. Changes and continuities in second person address pronoun usage in Bogotá Spanish. Open Linguistics 9:1 DOI logo
Fernández-Mallat, Víctor & Michael Newman
2022. Continuity and Change in New Dialect Formation: Tú vs. Usted in New York City Spanish. Journal of Language Contact 15:1 ► pp. 240 ff. DOI logo
Restrepo-Ramos, Falcon & Nofiya Denbaum-Restrepo
2022. The Syntactic and Discourse Properties of Second Person Singular Forms of Address inPaisaSpanish. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 15:2 ► pp. 453 ff. DOI logo
Restrepo-Ramos, Falcon
2021. A changing landscape of voseo in Medellín?. In Linguistic Landscape in the Spanish-speaking World [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 35], ► pp. 45 ff. DOI logo
Tuten, Donald N.
2021. Complexification of the early modern Spanish address system: A role for koineization?. In Spanish Socio-Historical Linguistics [Advances in Historical Sociolinguistics, 12], ► pp. 17 ff. DOI logo
Bland, Justin & Terrell A. Morgan
2020. Geographic variation of voseo on Spanish Twitter. In Current Theoretical and Applied Perspectives on Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 27], ► pp. 7 ff. DOI logo
Foster, Daniel, Suzanne Aalberse & Wessel Stoop
2019. Examining Twitter as a source for address research using Colombian Spanish. In It’s not all about you [Topics in Address Research, 1], ► pp. 75 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 december 2025. 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.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue