The tuteo of Rocha, Uruguay
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Joseph R. Weyers
Abstract
Although Uruguay is generally considered voseante, its easternmost department of Rocha is known for its seemingly stable tuteo (T-T). The evidence of a stable tuteo in Rocha to date has been anecdotal. Weyers (2014) studied teenagers’ attitudes toward second person singular forms and found that young speakers in Rocha have a strong sense of pride in their tuteo and link it to their identity. At the same time, they demonstrate openness toward the voseo of Montevideo. The current study builds on Weyers (2014). Here, 55 informants participated in a two-part survey. The first part includes Weyers’ (2014) linguistic attitudes survey in part, the results for which are corroborated by this more heterogeneous sample. The second part was an elicitation task for which speakers produced second person singular imperatives or present indicative forms. The findings show that while tuteo forms are generally preferred, nearly half of the informants preferred the voseo form of ser in an elicitation task. Younger speakers, primarily male, were more apt to prefer sos over eres, citing its sense of informality to the tuteo’s formality. The data from the current study suggest that Rocha’s tuteo might not be as stable as commonly thought. This study provides a foundation for subsequent research on the potential for a future shift from tuteo to voseo.
Abstract
Although Uruguay is generally considered voseante, its easternmost department of Rocha is known for its seemingly stable tuteo (T-T). The evidence of a stable tuteo in Rocha to date has been anecdotal. Weyers (2014) studied teenagers’ attitudes toward second person singular forms and found that young speakers in Rocha have a strong sense of pride in their tuteo and link it to their identity. At the same time, they demonstrate openness toward the voseo of Montevideo. The current study builds on Weyers (2014). Here, 55 informants participated in a two-part survey. The first part includes Weyers’ (2014) linguistic attitudes survey in part, the results for which are corroborated by this more heterogeneous sample. The second part was an elicitation task for which speakers produced second person singular imperatives or present indicative forms. The findings show that while tuteo forms are generally preferred, nearly half of the informants preferred the voseo form of ser in an elicitation task. Younger speakers, primarily male, were more apt to prefer sos over eres, citing its sense of informality to the tuteo’s formality. The data from the current study suggest that Rocha’s tuteo might not be as stable as commonly thought. This study provides a foundation for subsequent research on the potential for a future shift from tuteo to voseo.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgments ix
- Introduction xi
-
Part I. Cutting-edge Methodologies in Sociolinguistics
- Quantitative analysis in language variation and change 3
- Combining population genetics (DNA) with historical linguistics 33
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Part II. Bilingualism
- Los Angeles Vernacular Spanish 91
- On the tenacity of Andean Spanish 109
- Spanish and Valencian in contact 135
-
Part III. Language Acquisition
- Children’s Spanish subject pronoun expression 157
- The role of social networks in the acquisition of a dialectal features during study abroad 177
- Lexical frequency and subject expression in native and non-native Spanish 197
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Part IV. Phonological Variation
- On glottal stops in Yucatan Spanish 219
- Vowel raising and social networks in Michoacán 241
- Bilingualism and aspiration 261
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Part V. Morpho-Syntactic Variation
- Spanish and Portuguese parallels 285
- The tuteo of Rocha, Uruguay 305
- A corpus-based sociolinguistic study of contact-induced changes in subject placement in the Spanish of New York City bilinguals 323
-
Part VI. Lexical Variation
- Social factors in semantic change 345
- Attitudes towards lexical Arabisms in sixteenth-century Spanish texts 363
- “Trabajar es en español, en ladino es lavorar” 381
- Index 401
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgments ix
- Introduction xi
-
Part I. Cutting-edge Methodologies in Sociolinguistics
- Quantitative analysis in language variation and change 3
- Combining population genetics (DNA) with historical linguistics 33
-
Part II. Bilingualism
- Los Angeles Vernacular Spanish 91
- On the tenacity of Andean Spanish 109
- Spanish and Valencian in contact 135
-
Part III. Language Acquisition
- Children’s Spanish subject pronoun expression 157
- The role of social networks in the acquisition of a dialectal features during study abroad 177
- Lexical frequency and subject expression in native and non-native Spanish 197
-
Part IV. Phonological Variation
- On glottal stops in Yucatan Spanish 219
- Vowel raising and social networks in Michoacán 241
- Bilingualism and aspiration 261
-
Part V. Morpho-Syntactic Variation
- Spanish and Portuguese parallels 285
- The tuteo of Rocha, Uruguay 305
- A corpus-based sociolinguistic study of contact-induced changes in subject placement in the Spanish of New York City bilinguals 323
-
Part VI. Lexical Variation
- Social factors in semantic change 345
- Attitudes towards lexical Arabisms in sixteenth-century Spanish texts 363
- “Trabajar es en español, en ladino es lavorar” 381
- Index 401
