2016 chapter

The changing system of Costa Rican pronouns of address

In Forms of Address in the Spanish of the Americas (pp. 243–266).

Source: Crossref
Added: August 28, 2020

This study examines the reported use of three forms of address ( tu, vos, usted ) in Costa Rican Spanish. Previous studies indicate three phenomena of interest: (1) Usted is used with [+solidarity] interlocutors; (2) While tuteo has been historically absent, some studies suggest an increase in tuteo use among young speakers; (3) Older studies indicated that younger speakers were increasing their use of vos . Based on 209 surveys, results indicate an increase in ustedeo among younger speakers, which contradicts earlier studies. Possible explanations include the socio-political history of Costa Rica, as well as a linguistic reaction against the influx of voseo -using Nicaraguan immigrants. Finally, no clear evidence of expanding tuteo is found, at least for the survey data analyzed here.