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International Journal of Linguistics
ISSN 1948-5425
2017, Vol. 9, No. 4
www.macrothink.org/ijl
1
Sociolinguistic Perceptions of Tú, Usted and Vos in the
Highlands of Ecuador
Jesus Toapanta
Department of Linguistics, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador,
12 de Octubre 1076 y Roca, Quito-Ecuador.
Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, University of Alberta.
200 Arts Building, Edmonton T6G 2E6, Canada
Tel: 1-780-492-4926 E-mail: toapanta@ualberta.ca
Received: August 6, 2017 Accepted: August 11, 2017 Published: August 14, 2017
doi:10.5296/ijl.v9i4.11701 URL: https://doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v9i4.11701
Abstract
The Spanish pronouns ‘Tú’, ‘Usted’ and ‘Vos’ all translate into the English second person
singular ‘You’. However, this does not mean that they convey the same meaning. In Ecuador,
for example, the pronoun Usted is normally used to signal formality, distance, and not
familiarity; and, Tú and Vos are often used to signal friendship, closeness, and informality. In
addition, these pronouns adopt different meanings depending on where in Ecuador the
interaction takes place. For example, in a reciprocal relationship between classmates, Vos
implies friendship and closeness in the city of Cuenca, but in the city of Quito Vos implies
lack of respect. In this sense, this study examines how college students perceive the usage of
these pronouns at home, at the university, and at the workplace. This paper analyses samples
taken from three cities in the highlands—Quito, Cuenca, and Loja—and describes how these
pronouns are being used at these locations in Ecuador. The results reveal this very peculiar
variation and show the different meanings and tendencies of these pronouns.
Keywords: Pronoun usage in ecuador, Sociolinguistics, Pronoun variation, Language and
society
International Journal of Linguistics
ISSN 1948-5425
2017, Vol. 9, No. 4
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1. Introduction
In Spanish, either Tú, Usted, or Vos can be used to address the second person singular. Thus,
in a conversation, two individuals could actually address each other with any of these
pronouns. The Spanish pronouns Tú, Usted, and Vos are all equivalent to the English singular
pronoun “you”; however, these pronouns do not exactly convey the same meaning. In
Ecuador, for example, when addressing a person with the pronoun Usted, the interlocutor for
whatever reason may want to signal distance, formality, or perhaps intimacy. In fact, when
referring to the usage of these pronouns in Ecuador, Cordero de Espinosa (2004) mentioned
that Usted takes on different meanings that go from politeness and distance to intimacy and
closeness such as boyfriend and girlfriend alternating between Usted and Tú when addressing
each other (pp. 473-74). The distinction between these pronouns also depends on factors such
as age, career, and the social hierarchy of the interlocutors (Ansaldo, 2011: 86-87). For
instance, at a university setting, although professors will reciprocally address each other with
Tú or Usted, students will mostly address professors with Usted but professors will address
them back with Tú. However, this power semantic relationship may not hold constant in all
the speech communities along the highlands of Ecuador.
Employing these pronouns can be confusing because Tú, Usted, and Vos do not operate
similarly in the whole region. They actually function differently depending on where in
Ecuador the interaction takes place. For example, a student at a university in Quito will
reciprocally address their classmates with Tú, but a student at a university in Loja will
address their classmates with either Tú or Vos. This peculiar variation, which is also a
function of social strata, occurs because within the Ecuadorian speech community, smaller
speech communities treat these pronouns differently. In fact, Lipski (1994) observed that the
mixing of Tú and Vos was frequent in the speech of rural and urban Ecuadorians along the
highlands. He mentioned that “…even educated urban Ecuadorians exhibit greater variation
of voseo than is common in Central America and South Cone nations” (pp. 245-50).
Not much research has been generated around these pronouns in Ecuador. However, the few
studies conducted have certainly portrayed how these pronouns have generally been used
since last century. One of the first investigations addressing the usage of Tú, Usted, and Vos
in Ecuador was conducted by Toscano Mateus. So, while depicting the linguistic situation in
Ecuador during the first half of the 20th century, Toscano (1953) mentioned that Usted was
used to address people with respect or because the interlocutors were not familiar with each
other (pp. 200-1). Also, when referring to the pronoun Vos, he said that it was the proper
pronoun to address parents and the appropriate pronoun between husband and wife (p. 197).
Additionally, when describing the pronoun Tú, he pointed out that educated young people in
the city of Quito preferred to use the pronoun Tú instead of the pronoun Vos in their daily
talking (p. 37).
Twenty years later, at a university in Quito, Miño (1976) conducted a study and found that
Usted was the pronoun of respect, but in vertical communication it showed distance.
Regarding the pronoun Vos, he found that in a horizontal communication the pronoun Vos
implied familiarity, but in vertical communication Vos entailed a discriminating meaning.
International Journal of Linguistics
ISSN 1948-5425
2017, Vol. 9, No. 4
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When referring to the pronoun Tú, he said that in vertical communication Tú did not occur;
however, in horizontal communication Tú implied solidarity and friendship (pp. 30-31).
Toward the end of the 80’s, Peñaherrera (1988) found that while the reciprocal Tú prevailed
in his younger participants, Vos was still present within a family setting as an informal
manner of intimacy. He mentioned that his participants would tend to replace Vos with Tú in
interactions outside the family (p. 52).
Moving on to the first decade of the twenty first century, Alvarez (2005) argued that in the
younger generations, there was a growing tendency of using the pronoun Tú among people
who shared the same profession and among those who did not show any salient difference in
age or categorical position. Alvarez said that even in contexts where higher levels of
politeness were expected such as students addressing professors, the form of address was still
Tú (p. 2). In fact, Haboud and De la Vega (2008) commented that in the upper social strata,
there is a tendency to address older people with Tú such as students addressing professors
with the pronoun Tú. In this particular sense, when referring to the Hispanic communities,
Pedroviejo (2004) commented that the usage of Tú has grown to become a polite and
adequate form of treatment as a result of a modern and democratic society in which
prejudices and social hierarchy are being alienated (p. 250). While such argument around Tú
is valid, generalizing it to the entire speech community is not because smaller speech
communities, especially in Ecuador, treat these pronouns differently. That is, while certain
social strata in the city of Quito finds it adequate to address their professors with Tú, people
in other cities (e.g. Cuenca and Loja) do not find it appropriate to address their professors
with Tú, but would instead address their professors with Usted.
Haboud and De la Vega (2008) mentioned that Usted is used to show respect and distance
among people of the same social group. They pointed out that Usted is used to address
parents, but parents would generally address children with Tú. Regarding the pronoun Vos,
they mentioned that in the city of Quito this pronoun is still used by older people and by some
youngsters who define themselves as belonging to the upper social strata; in that sense, these
youngsters would use Vos as a pronoun of superiority to address people who work as
housekeepers, vendors, maintenance personnel, masons, etc. Similarly, Vos would be used
when the speaker, who defines himself or herself as superior, replies to expressions or
attitudes considered disrespectful (pp. 173-175).
To summarize, the pronoun Usted has consistently been described as the pronoun of respect,
politeness, distance and not familiarity. However, it is also described as a pronoun of
intimacy and closeness such as boyfriend and girlfriend alternating between Usted and Tú. As
for the pronoun Vos, it was mentioned that during the first half of the twentieth century, Vos
was the proper pronoun to address parents and spouses; however, the pronoun Vos was also
described as a pronoun of superiority entailing a negative connotation (Miño, 1976; Haboud
and De la Vega, 2008). On the other hand, Vos has also been described as the pronoun of
familiarity, informality and intimacy. As for the pronoun Tú, it was described as the pronoun
of friendship as well as the pronoun of the young and the educated; and, although Tú appears
to be an adequate form to address older people such as professors, parents still expect to be
addressed with Usted by their children.
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2017, Vol. 9, No. 4
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Then, what is the appropriate form of address? Does it only depend on factors such as age,
career, and social strata? Or, sketching a generalizable pattern of pronoun usage is just not
possible. I believe that the issue mainly lies on the usage of these pronouns by different
generations across different speech communities. That is, different generations and smaller
speech communities within Ecuador perceive and use the pronouns differently. So, it is
important to analyze how new generations in these smaller speech communities are
perceiving the usage of these pronouns. Comparing how these pronouns are being used in
different cities of Ecuador will certainly portray a better picture. In that sense, college
students represent this new generation and the cities of Quito, Cuenca, and Loja represent the
smaller speech communities within the big speech community of Ecuador. Therefore, this
paper will look at how college students from these cities perceive the usage of these pronouns.
The question that will guide this study is: How do college students from these cities—Quito,
Cuenca, and Loja—perceive the usage of these pronouns at home, at the university, and at the
workplace?
2. The Participants
The instrument to gather data was a questionnaire which contained both closed- and
open-ended questions. The results are presented in terms of frequencies in relation to the
closed-ended questions, and descriptively in terms of the one open-ended question which
explicitly asked for their perception on the usage of these pronouns. In addition to these
pronoun specific questions, the questionnaire also elicited background information from the
participants; this information is described below.
The questionnaire was administered to college students while they were in class. That is, the
samples were convenient and participants were not randomly selected. Also, one of the
samples was collected at a public university while the other two samples were collected at
private universities.
2.1 Participants in Quito
The questionnaire was administered to 17 arts students at a large university in Quito. The age
of the subjects ranged from 18 to 26 with an average age of 20, and there were 14 females
and 3 male participants; that is, 82% were female. All of the students were Spanish native
speakers and had lived in the city of Quito for at least 15 years. They reported to normally
interact with people from middle and middle-high social class.
2.2 Participants in Cuenca
The questionnaire was administered to 21 arts students at a large university in Cuenca. The
ages of the participants ranged from 18 to 28 with an average age of 21, and there were 15
females and 6 male participants; that is, 71% were female. All of the students were Spanish
native speakers and had lived in the city of Cuenca for at least 15 years. They reported to
normally interact with people from middle and middle-low social class.
2.3 Participants in Loja
The questionnaire was administered to 19 science students at a large university in Loja. The
ages of the participants range from 20 to 28 with an average age of 22, and there were 4
females and 15 male participants; that is, 21% were female. All of the subjects were Spanish
International Journal of Linguistics
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native speakers and had lived in the city of Loja for at least 15 years. They reported to
normally interact with people from middle and middle-high social class.
3. The Results
This section presents the results of the 57 university participants. It is divided into three
sub-section: 3.1) pronouns in Quito, 3.2) pronouns in Cuenca, and 3.3) pronouns in Loja. The
results are visually displayed in graphs and charts. The graphs present the aggregate
percentage of pronoun usage and the charts depict more specifically the tendencies of
pronoun usage for parents, grandparents, spouses, bosses, co-workers, professors, and
classmates in relation to the participants.
3.1 Pronouns in Quito
Participants in Quito did not actually report the pronoun Vos, except for an extreme small
percentage at home. Also, at home and at the university, the pronoun Usted constitutes only
1/3 in comparison to 2/3 of the pronoun Tú. And, at the workplace, both Usted and Tú are
used proportionally; that is, the two pronouns share equal amounts of usage, 1/2 each. For
these participants, the pronoun Tú is much more frequent. (See graph 1 below).
Figure 1. Aggregate pronoun usage in Quito
At home, regarding the participants’ relationship with their parents and grandparents, they
reported that while they use Tú (53%) or Usted (47%) to address their parents, their parents
use Tú (88%) to address them. Moreover, while participants use Usted (88%) to address their
International Journal of Linguistics
ISSN 1948-5425
2017, Vol. 9, No. 4
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grandparents, their grandparents use Tú (88%) to address them. Also, when asked which
pronoun is more appropriate between husband and wife, the participants said Tú (88%). (See
chart 1 below).
Chart 1: 1 Tendencies of Pronoun Usage at Home
Participants & their parents
Participants & their grandparents
Participants & spouses
Parents Participants
Parents Participants
Grandparents Participants
Grandparents Participants
Husband Wife
‘T’ stands for Tú; ‘U’ stands for Usted & ‘V’ stands for Vos.
At the workplace in relation to bosses and coworkers, the participants reported that while
they use Usted (82%) or Tú (18%) to address their bosses, their bosses use Tú (53%) or Usted
(47%) to address them. Also, the participants mentioned that they use Tú (76%) or Usted
(24%) to address their coworkers. (See chart 2 below).
Chart 2. Tendencies of Pronoun Usage at the Workplace
Participants & their bosses
Participants & their co-workers
Boss Participants
Boss Participants
Co-worker Co-worker
‘T’ stands for Tú; ‘U’ stands for Usted & ‘V’ stands for Vos.
At the university, in relation to professors-students, the participants reported that they use
Usted (71%) or Tú (29%) to address their professors, but their professors use Tú (71%) or
Usted (29%) to address them. So, participants basically address professors with Usted and
professors address them with Tú. When asked which pronoun is appropriate to use among
classmates, all of them reported Tú (100%). (See chart 3 below).
1 Only percentages at 33% (i.e. at least 1/3) or higher were considered when graphing these tendencies.
T
T
U
U
T
T
U
T
U
T
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2017, Vol. 9, No. 4
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Chart 3. Tendencies of Pronoun Usage at the University
Participants & their professors
Participants & their classmates
Professors Participants
Professors Participants
Classmate Classmate
‘T’ stands for Tú; ‘U’ stands for Usted & ‘V’ stands for Vos.
3.2 Pronouns in Cuenca
In Cuenca, participants sketched a somewhat different scheme with the three pronouns
showing up. At home, for example, Tú, Usted and Vos are equally frequent, approximately
1/3 each. At the workplace and at the university, on the other hand, the pronoun Usted takes
on approximately 2/3 of usage. The other 1/3 is shared by the pronouns Tú and Vos, where Tú
is reported to be twice as frequent as Vos. (See graph 2 below).
Figure 2. Aggregate pronoun usage in Cuenca
At home, in relation to parents, grandparents and spouses, the scenario is different due to the
appearance of the pronoun Vos. To illustrate, when addressing parents, participants use Usted
T
T
U
International Journal of Linguistics
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2017, Vol. 9, No. 4
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(52%), Tú (29%) or Vos (19%); however, their parents address them back basically with Vos
(48%) or Tú (43%). Furthermore, when addressing their grandparents, they mostly use Usted
(90%); yet, their grandparents address them with Vos (52%) or Tú (43%). Additionally, when
asked which pronoun is appropriate between husband and wife, they mainly reported Tú
(57%) or Vos (33%). (See chart 4 below).
Chart 4. Tendencies of Pronoun Usage at Home
Participants & their parents
Participants & their grandparents
Participants & spouses
Parents Participants
Parents Participants
Grandparents Participants
Grandparents Participants
Husband Wife
‘T’ stands for Tú; ‘U’ stands for Usted & ‘V’ stands for Vos.
At the workplace, bosses (76%) as well as participants (81%) use Usted to address each other.
However, when addressing co-workers, they use either Usted (43%) or Tú (43%). (See chart
5 below).
Chart 5. Tendencies of Pronoun Usage at the Workplace
Participants & their bosses
Participants & their co-workers
Boss Participants
Co-workers Co-workers
‘T’ stands for Tú; ‘U’ stands for Usted & ‘V’ stands for Vos.
At the university, the participants reported that they address their professors with Usted
(100%). Similarly, their professors address them with Usted (90%). However, when
interacting with their classmates, they reported to address each other with Tú (57%) or Vos
(33%). (See chart 6 below).
Chart 6. Tendencies of Pronoun Usage at the University
Participants & their professors
Participants & their classmates
Professors Participants
Classmates Classmates
‘T’
stands for Tú; ‘
U’
stands for Usted &
‘V’
stands for Vos.
V
T
T
U
U
U
U
U
T
T
V
V
T
V
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3.3 Pronouns in Loja
The appearance of the pronoun Vos in the city of Loja portrays a somewhat similar situation
than in the city of Cuenca. The distribution of Vos constitutes roughly 1/10 in the three
domains of usage; that is, approximately 90 percent is shared by Tú and Usted. At home, Tú
takes approximately 1/2 and Usted takes a little less than 1/2. At the workplace and at the
university, Usted takes on roughly a little less than 2/3, and Tú takes approximately 1/3.
Figure 3. Aggregate pronoun usage in Loja
At home, participants address their parents with Usted (79%), but their parents address them
with Tú (74%). Likewise, they address their grandparents with Usted (100%), but their
grandparents address them back with Tú (74%). Between husband and wife, participants
reported Tú (71%). (See chart 7 below).
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Chart 7. Tendencies of Pronoun Usage at Home
Participants & their parents
Participants & their grandparents
Participants & spouses
Parents Participants
Parents Participants
Grandparents Participants
Grandparents Participants
Husband Wife
‘T’
stands for Tú; ‘
U’
stands for Usted &
‘V’
stands for Vos.
In Loja, the relationship between bosses and coworkers with the participants is less tangled.
While bosses (79%) and participants (95%) address each other with Usted, co-workers
address each other with Tú (61%). (See chart 8 below)
Chart 8. Tendencies of Pronoun Usage at the Workplace
Participants & their bosses
Participants & their co-workers
Boss Participants
Co-workers Co-
workers
‘T’ stands for Tú; ‘U’ stands for Usted & ‘V’ stands for Vos.
In Loja, at the University, participants reported that professors (100%) and students (84%)
address each other with Usted. However, to address their classmates, they use Tú (60%) or
Vos (40%). (See chart 9 below).
Chart 9. Tendencies of Pronoun Usage at the University
Participants & their professors
Participants & their classmates
Professors Participants
Classmates Classmates
‘T’ stands for Tú; ‘U’ stands for Usted & ‘V’ stands for Vos.
4. The Findings
This section is divided in three sub-sections: 4.1 Pronoun usage in Quito, 4.2 Pronoun usage
in Cuenca, and 4.3 Pronoun usage in Loja. This section combines two types of data—the
frequencies and the open responses of the participants. The first paragraph in each subsection
describes the frequencies and the tendencies of pronoun usage, and the second paragraph in
the same subsection addresses the open responses of the participants regarding pronoun
T
T
T
T
U
U
U
U
T
V
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usage.
4.1 Pronoun Usage in Quito
In the city of Quito, the pronoun Tú is the most frequent. At home, Tú takes approximately
64%, Usted takes 34%, and Vos takes 2%. At the university, Tú takes approximately 66% and
Usted takes 34%. And, at the workplace, Tú and Usted take 50% each. Thus, Tú appears to be
the most popular pronoun in Quito. In fact, parents and grandparents address their children
and grandchildren with Tú; however, grandchildren address their grandparents with Usted;
and children address their parents with either Tú or Usted. Similarly, professors address
students with Tú, but students address professor with Usted; and, while bosses address
employees with Tú or Usted, employees address their bosses with Usted. So, it appears that
Usted is the appropriate pronoun to address older people, which also means that Usted is a
pronoun that portrays respect. Additionally, Tú is the reciprocal pronoun between husband
and wife, co-workers, and classmates. This means that Tú is also a pronoun that portrays
respect but used among people who share similar characteristics such as age, career, status,
and so forth. So, in a power semantic relationship, Tú is the pronoun of power and Usted is
the pronoun of reverence. Likewise, in a solidarity semantic relationship, the reciprocal
pronoun among equals is Tú.
When participants in Quito were asked about these pronouns, they said that Usted is the
proper pronoun to address older people as well as the pronoun of respect, social distance and
not familiarity; so, an unfamiliar person is addressed with Usted and a familiar person is
addressed with Tú. Also, participants mentioned that Tú is the pronoun for friends,
acquaintances, fellows, and family members as well as the pronoun used among people of the
same age. And, while Usted is the pronoun of formality, Tú is neither formal nor informal. As
for the pronoun Vos, participants in Quito mentioned that this pronoun is way too informal
and used among people who share a strong relationship of trust. On the other hand, they also
mentioned that Vos is used to address people in a despicable manner, to insult others and to
show disrespect. This may seem contradictory, but since Vos is a pronoun that entails strong
bonds of trust, it may happen that the bond of trust is not mutually accepted. For example, in
a social interaction between two people who share similar characteristics, one of the
interlocutors may address the other person with Vos. However, if the addressee does not feel
that there is a relationship of trust, she/he might feel offended. Perhaps, the addressee may
feel that although both share similar characteristics, she/he is superior in one of these
characteristics and interprets it as an act of insubordination. It might happen as if the
boundaries of personal space have been violated.
4.2 Pronoun Usage in Cuenca
In the city of Cuenca, the geography of the pronouns changes with the three pronouns clearly
showing up in all domains. At home, Tú, Usted, and Vos take 33% each; and, at the
workplace and at the university, Usted takes approximately 65%, Tú takes 25%, and Vos
takes 10%. Thus, in the city of Cuenca, the most popular pronoun seems to be Usted. At
home, parents and grandparents address their children and their grandchildren with either Vos
or Tú. However, grandchildren address their grandparents with Usted; and, although children
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address their parents with either Tú, Usted, or Vos, they mostly address their parents with
Usted. On the other hand, between boss and employee, and between professor and student,
the reciprocal pronoun is Usted. Also, between classmates, and husband and wife, the
reciprocal pronoun is either Tú or Vos, but between co-workers the reciprocal pronoun is
either Tú or Usted. Regarding these reciprocal relationships, it can be inferred from the
boss-employee and professor-student relationships that Usted is the pronoun of respect and
formality. Likewise, it seems reasonable to conclude that Tú and Vos are the pronouns of
closeness and intimacy since they are used between classmates and spouses. The pronoun Vos
is not used between co-workers, so Tú seems to be more formal than Vos, but less formal than
Usted. Additionally, it seems that in Cuenca, Tú and Vos are the pronouns of power and
Usted is the pronoun of reverence. Also, while Usted is the pronoun of formality, Tú and Vos
are the pronouns of closeness and intimacy.
Participants in Cuenca, when asked about these pronouns, mentioned that Usted is the proper
pronoun to address professors, bosses, and older people. This pronoun signals politeness,
respect, hierarchy, and formality. Usted is used to address unfamiliar and unknown people as
well as within a professional environment to address people who have some kind of higher
rank. Regarding Tú, participants mentioned that Tú is informal and used with people one
knows and interacts frequently such as classmates. Tú entails a relationship of trust and is
used among people of the same age as a marker of informality. However, if Tú is used to
address parents or older people, it implies lack of respect. As far as Vos is concerned,
participants mentioned that Vos is used to address very familiar people such as friends and
family members. Vos is semi-formal and used when the relationship of trust is strong. It
shows respect and is used within a framework of relaxation when people tell jokes and utter
fanny phrases. However, same as Tú, Vos signals lack of respect when addressing parents or
older people. Participants mentioned that while Tú and Vos express respect, these pronouns
are informal and used when the relationship of trust among friends is very strong.
4.3 Pronoun Usage in Loja
In the city of Loja, participants portrayed a somewhat distinct picture as well. While Tú,
Usted, and Vos are certainly present in all domains, at home, Tú takes 50%, Usted takes 40%,
and Vos takes 10%. However, at the workplace and at the University, the pronoun geography
in Loja is similar to Cuenca; that is, Usted takes approximately 60%, Tú takes 30%, and Vos
takes roughly 10%. Thus, similar to Cuenca, Usted appears to be the most frequent pronoun
in the city of Loja; the pronouns seem to be more stable though. That is, parents and
grandparents address their children and grandchildren with Tú, and parents and grandparents
receive Usted. Similarly, Bosses and employees as well as professors and students
reciprocally address each other with Usted. And, although classmates address each other with
either Tú or Vos, co-workers as well as husband and wife reciprocally address each other with
Tú. So, it seems that in a nonreciprocal relationship, Tú is the pronoun of power and Usted is
the pronoun of reverence. Additionally, in a reciprocal relationship, Usted appears to be the
pronoun of formality, distance and respect; and Tú is the pronoun of intimacy, closeness and
respect.
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When the participants in Loja were asked about these pronouns, they commented that Usted
is the proper pronoun to address parents, grandparents, older people, and unfamiliar people.
They mentioned that Usted is the pronoun of respect and politeness. On the other hand, Tú is
the pronoun of moderate respect and used with friends when there is a relationship of trust.
Tú is used with people who are younger or the same age. As for the pronoun Vos, the
opinions were divided. While some participants mentioned that Vos is used to address friends
informally, others mentioned that Vos denotes lack of respect and a word used to look down
on people. Some participants even described Vos as a vulgar and coarse word.
5. Final Remarks
In the city of Quito, Usted is the proper pronoun to address older people. It is the pronoun of
respect, formality, not familiarity, and social distance. Tú is the pronoun for friends,
acquaintances, fellows, and family members. On the other hand, while the pronoun Vos is
way too informal and used with addressees who share a strong relationship of trust, the
pronoun Vos is generally used to look down on people and to address people in a despicable
manner. So, it would be very disrespectful to address parents, grandparents, bosses, or
professors with Vos. Even addressing spouses, co-workers, and classmates would not be
appropriate.
In the city of Cuenca, Usted is the pronoun of respect, formality, politeness, and hierarchy. It
is the proper pronoun to address professors, bosses and older people. While Tú is informal
and used with people one interacts frequently such as classmates, Tú is more formal than Vos.
Tú implies a relationship of trust and is used with people of the same age as a marker of
informality. Additionally, although Tú and Vos are the pronouns of closeness and intimacy,
Vos is used when the relationship of trust is strong; so, the pronoun Vos is used to address
very familiar people such as friends and family members. The pronoun Vos regularly surfaces
in relaxed and informal interactions when people tell jokes or utter fanny phrases.
In the city of Loja, Usted is the proper pronoun to address parents, grandparents, and older
people. It is the pronoun of respect, not familiarity, and politeness. Tú is the pronoun of
moderate respect and used with friends when there is a relationship of trust. It is also the
pronoun for spouses, co-workers and classmates. On the other hand, Vos is used to address
friends informally, but Vos is also a vulgar a coarse word that portrays disrespect.
Thus, the pronouns are indeed perceived differently at these different speech communities.
While the most apparent feature is appearance of the pronoun Vos in the three domains of
usage in the cities of Cuenca and Loja, Vos does not actually show up in city of Quito. Also,
the most frequent pronoun in Quito is Tú; and, the most frequent pronoun in Cuenca and Loja
is Usted. In terms of the power semantic relationship (non-reciprocal) between these
pronouns, it is evident that Tú is the pronoun of power and Usted is the pronoun of reverence;
however, in the city of Cuenca, both Tú and Vos are the pronouns of power as dictated by the
relationship of parents and grandparents. In relation to the solidarity semantic relationship
(reciprocal), Tú is the pronoun of solidarity in Quito and Loja, but in Cuenca this function is
shared by Tú and Vos.
International Journal of Linguistics
ISSN 1948-5425
2017, Vol. 9, No. 4
www.macrothink.org/ijl
14
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