COMAS ~ COMÁS: ADDRESS FORM VARIATION IN ARGENTINIAN SPANISH SUBJUNCTIVE INAR 3 Texas A&M Mary Johnson Occidental College Spanish informal address 2nd person singular, informal forms of address (T forms) • • Vos Tú Some Spanish dialects have vos, some have tú, and some have both. • • Pronoun vos Verb forms ■ ■ Vary by dialect Typically differ from tuteo in: Present indicative, affirmative imperative, present subjunctive (negative imperative). Where? Countries in blue have a significant amount of some sort of voseo Argentina 1. 2. Alternation between voseo and tuteo in the negative imperative form and 2nd person singular subjunctive form No hagas eso. (tuteo) No hagás eso. (voseo) Don’t do that Negative imperative forms undisputed Subjunctive forms not so much Where did this alternation come from? Moyna (2009) • When Spanish came to America, the voseo and tuteo were “pragmatically ambiguous”- voseo used for both equals and superiors • In acquisition, children learn imperatives first, then present indicative, and later present subjunctive. ■ The order in which the voseo won out over the tuteo in Argentina. ■ Present subjunctive = two uses ■ Irrealis ■ Negative imperative ■ Semantic specialization for negative imperative only Prior research Fontanella de Weinberg (1979) Addresses alternation in negative imperatives • Study with 12 informants • Given a series of sentences with requests in various forms a. Cerrá la ventana ‘close the window.’ b. ¿Podés cerrar la ventana? ‘can you close the window?’ c. No mirés para allá. ‘don’t look over there.’ d. No mires para allá. ‘don’t look over there.’ • Prior research Fontanella de Weinberg (1979) • 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Participants rated on a scale of 1-5 Polite request Courteous order Neutral order Strict order Forceful order Results: • • Tuteo command = 2.3 Voseo command = 3.7 Prior research Fontanella de Weinberg & Lavandera (1975) • Voseo form does not exist in subjunctive outside of negative commands García Negroni & Ramirez Gelbes Voseo form expresses closer social distance, greater imposition and more power Used in desiderative subjunctives Is highly impositive Prior research Johnson (2013 & forthcoming) • Studied negative commands • Voseo form is more restricted than tuteo form • Production study ■ Voseo form used more in immediate contexts • Perception study ■ Voseo form rated as more certain ■ Expresses more epistemic certainty regarding addressee’s intentions than tuteo form Prior research Johnson (2013) • Doesn’t appear only in negative commands • Does appear, however, to be more frequent in negative commands This study Does this alternation in fact persist significantly in subjunctive forms outside of negative commands? What kinds of subjunctive forms is it found in? What is their use? Does the meaning difference found for commands hold also in the subjunctive forms? What are the pragmatic licensing restrictions? • Is it only used deontically? Methods Qualitative • Internet searches limited to Argentina • Constructed examples verified by native speakers of Argentinian Spanish • Analyze what kind of context it is, and what the use of the subjunctive form is. Examples Mejor que te afeités, mejor que madurés, mejor que laburés... ‘Its best that you shave, its best that you mature, its best that you work.’ (song lyrics, Los Autenticos Decadentes- La Guitarra). Deontic Examples Quiero que vengás, necesito que vengás... ‘I want you to come, I need you to come.’ (http://bodegadelsitio.blogspot.com/2011/08/sopa-de-mariscos.html) Deontic Examples [Mother to her child:] “La esposa de tu papá no quiere que vayás más a la casa de ellos. No quiere que te juntés con Javier, yo no sé qué habrás hecho pero ella al menos tiene la suerte de poder pedirlo.” (Bazán, 2011) ‘Your father’s wife doesn’t want you to go (VF) to their house anymore. She doesn’t want you to get together (VF) with Javier, I don’t know what you have done but at least she is lucky enough to be able to make that request.’ Deontic Interim analysis Lots of deontic use Given the pragmatic meaning identified in prior studies, we can see why the voseo would persist in the deontic use in subordinate clauses as well. • Attempt to transform the state of affairs Examples A: Si no metes goles, no ganas partidos. B: nadie dice que no metás goles, pero primero lo primero: hay que ser sólidos atrás y a partir de ahí terminar de edificar al equipo... A: If you don’t score goals, you don’t win games. B: Nobody is saying not to score goals (voseo form), but first things first: you have to be solid in the back and from there finish building the team... (http://www.turiver.com/foros/campo-de-juego/60888-no-existe-mejordefensa-que-un-buen-ataque/2.html) Not deontic Examples Pienso que te maté de mil formas. Ahora te corté los brazos para que no luchés y la cabeza para que no pensés. Si te enterré fue para que no grités, para que no aparezcás, para que no seás… ‘I think I killed you in a million ways. Now I cut your arms so that you don’t fight and your head so that you don’t think. If I burried you it was so that you don’t yell, so that you don’t appear, so that you don’t exist. http://www.unoentrerios.com.ar/afondo/Palo-y-a-labolsa-20150828-0006.html Not Deontic Examples Es la gran preocupación de quienes le ponen el pecho a la literatura. ¿Cómo llego al público? “Es importante que no pensés en eso mientras escribís”… It’s the big worry of those who delve in literature. How do I reach the public? “Its important that you not think about that while you write”… http://www.lagaceta.com.ar/nota/591329/sociedad/vivir-vuelta-editorial-nogarantiza-nada.html Not Deontic Interim analysis Not all deontic Transforming current state of affairs Only negative? Difficulty with internet searches not always considering accent mark. Had to think of verbs that have stem changes. • • Pensés Mintás Yo no quiero que pensés que soy capaz de hacer daño porque sí, menos a vos ‘I don’t want you to think that I’m capable of hurting you, because yeah, not you.’ http://www.todotango.com/musica/tema/4233/A-rienda-suelta/ Quiero que pensés, y que pensés muy bien… I want you to think, and to think hard… http://www.taringa.net/fmx18/mi/qqeHe Examples Tips for running hills You should be consistent: schedule one or two hill trainings every 7 or 14 days. As you get stronger, add time to each segment or an additional hill. If you are trianing for a race with hills, try to copy in your trainings the types of hills that you will find in the race… http://www.elsol.com.ar/nota/240234 Me importa Guevito lo que penses de mi ! n_n I don’t care what you think (voseo form) of me. http://www.taringa.net/Natajb/mi/bIGw Hasta es posible que alguna vez no hayas dormido por culpa de tu PC. Podes usar f.lux porque hace que durmás mejor o sólo usarlo porque hace que tu PC se vea mejor. Its possible that some time you haven’t [been able to] sleep because of your PC. You can use f.lux because it makes you sleep better or just use it because it makes your PC look better. http://www.taringa.net/post/salud-bienestar/16588994/La-Pantalla-Te-QuemaLos-Ojos-A-La-Madrugada.html yo no pensaria tanto en la plata, pensaria en si quiero CONVIVIR 9 dias con mis compañeros, que no tiene NADA que ver con verlos todos los dias en el cole.... TE LO ASEGURO… me refiero a que no penses en la plata porque vos viajas el año que viene, y me imagino que te van a dar mas de 20 cuotas para pagar las 5lk, que no es lo mismo que desenfundarlas de golpe para el auto. http://fanafalcon.com.ar/foro/index.php?topic=21564.35;wap2 I wouldn't think so much about the money, I would think about if I want to LIVE 9 days with my friends, which has NOTHING to do with seeing them every day at school... I ASSURE YOU... I mean to say don't think about the money because you are traveling next year and I imagine that they will give you more than 20 quotas to pay the 51k, which is not the same as having to remit that all at once for the car. A: Para que voy a mentir?... B: No digo que mintas, si te fijas era una pregunta pero me parece raro porque dijiste ps3 y como esos juegos no se piratean y todavia no sale oficialmente, me extraño que lo pudieras haber comprado, eso es todo A: Why would I lie? B: I’m not saying you’re lying, if you pay attention it was just a question but it seems weird because you said ps3 and since those games aren’t pirated and it hasn’t come out officially, it seemed weird to me that you could have bought it, that’s all. http://foros.3dgames.com.ar/accion-aventura.6/522239.assassin-s-creed-2-a.40.html 31 "Es imposible que pensés que puede ser cuenta mía..." Its impossible for you to think that it could be my account https://ar.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130202033849AARRXCu Response to someone saying she had two accounts. So them thinking the other account was hers was part of the common ground. Otherwise not found in clauses that indicate counter-reality. Analysis Examples of voseo form occurring in the subjunctive are not hard to find. All examples share the feature of commenting about something that is in the common ground/state of affairs. This is even true of the negative command use • Immediacy • Epistemic certainty ■ Both speak to the speaker’s belief that the action under discussion was in the common ground/ state of affairs Indirect quote [Context: Mother yelling to her son from another room] Mother: ¡No comas la torta! Es para después. Son: [to his father, who is with him in the kitchen ¿Qué dice mamá? Father: [responding to his son, who is now reaching for the cake] Dice que no comás la torta. Mother: Don’t eat (TNI) the cake! It is for later. Son: What is mom saying? Father: She says for you to not eat (VNI) the cake. The child reaching for the cake is in the Father and Son’s common ground, but not the mother’s. Father, being present, could witness the son reaching for the cake, and can convey his own immediate commentary, while still faithfully conveying the mother’s utterance. Conventional Implicature Meaning found in the linguistic form- not contextual (Potts 2007) • Editorialize or comment on an assertion Discussion Referring to something in the common ground Conventionally Implicated Meaning • The voseo form includes information regarding what the speaker believes to be true about the addressee’s intentions. ■ This is meaning attributed to the speaker only, as shown by the indirect quotation from. Discussion Addressee’s intentions are part of the state of affairs. In a command or deontic subjunctive use they are trying to influence the addressee’s actions in a way that transforms the state of affairs. In a non deontic use, they are editorializing over the state of affairs. Conclusions Voseo form being less common in subordinate clauses not because it is ungrammatical, but rather because it is restricted to a subset of subordinate clauses Doesn't seem to appear in subjunctive clauses that are referring to falsities (e.g. es imposible que pienses/ #pensés) Quite common in deontic clauses When not deontic, the voseo is used to refer to the state of affairs. The voseo subjunctive form conventionally implicates immediacy in both the negative imperative and embedded clauses. Future Add experimental data Look at frequency of verbs • Hypothesis that more frequent verbs may appear more likely to have more extensive contexts in which they can appear. Irregular and infrequent verbs may be more restricted. References Benavides, C. 2003. La distribución del voseo en Hispanoamérica. Hispania 86(3): 612-623. Carricaburo, N. B. 1997. Las fórmulas de tratamiento en el español actual. Madrid: Arco Libros. Fontanella de Weinberg, M. B. 1979. La oposición <<Cantes/Cantés>> en el Español de Buenos Aires. Thesaurus 34, 72-83. Fontanella de Weinberg, M. B. and Beatriz Lavandera. 1975. Internal Linguistic Factors in Variation: Negative Command in Buenos Aires Spanish (Ms). García Negroni, M. M. & Ramírez Gelbes, S. (2004) “Politesse et alternance vos/tú en espagnol du Rio de la Plata. Le cas du subjonctif”. In: Actes du Colloque Pronoms de deuxième person- ne et formes d’adresse dans les langues d’Europe, París, Instituto Cervantes, Johnson, M. C. (2013). The Pragmatic Alternation Between Two Negative Imperatives in Argentinian Spanish. (Doctoral Dissertation) Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/ Kapovic, M. 2007. Fórmulas de tratamiento en dialectos de español: fenómenos de voseo y ustedeo. Hieronymus I: 65-87. Moyna, María Irene. 2009. Child Acquisition and Language Change: Voseo Evolution in Río de la Plata Spanish. In Selected Proceedings of the 11th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, ed. Joseph Collentine et al., 131-142. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. Potts, Christopher. 2007. Conventional implicatures, a distinguished class of meanings. The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Interfaces. Oxford University Press. Thank you!!
