Forms of address in Chilean and Argentinian pedagogical grammar books in the 19th century

Abstract

During the 19th century, usted was already widespread in Spain and Spanish-speaking America, while vos, used with familiar value, circulated with less prestige. This study analyzes the description of these forms of address in four pedagogical grammars published between 1880 and 1900 in Argentina and Chile, based on the layered theory by Pierre Swiggers (2009). All the grammars analyzed use usted in example sentences, with only the Argentinian ones classifying it as a pronoun. The familiar vos appears solely in Contreras Puebla’s (1895) grammar, whereas the reverential vos is more common. Although post-independence nationalism promoted linguistic identity, normative attitudes prevailed in the works analyzed, and regionalisms like the familiar vos were disapproved of. The analysis reveals progressive stages in the grammatization of usted, ranging from its mention only in examples to its inclusion among personal pronouns, illustrating how the ideal of the cultured norm shaped grammatical descriptions at the time.