Forms of address in Basque

Abstract

The aim of this article is twofold: first, to analyze and characterize forms of address in present-day Basque from a linguistic and sociolinguistic point of view, and, second, to underscore some of the distinctive features that make Basque interesting with regard to address. This work characterizes forms and systems of address in Basque based on two main factors: second-person pronouns and allocutivity. Five types are proposed depending on dialectal variety, and the existing differences in each of these systems are described. This article aims to fill a gap in Basque studies by analyzing modes of address in present-day Basque as a whole and going beyond mere grammatical analysis: previous studies are rather partial and confusing in terms of linguistic description, dialectal distribution and social usage (hierarchy among modes of address); in contrast, this article, based on extensive field work, gives an account of the different address systems according to the dialect and shows the sociopragmatic value (i.e., level of formality or politeness and personal distance) that each mode of address acquires in its system. The article will also highlight some of the distinctive linguistic features that make Basque interesting with regard to address. Forms of address in Basque display strong similarities with those in other languages in terms of the pronominal system and its historical development, yet they also show some distinctive features, namely: verbal allocutivity, which presents the speaker-hearer axis; gender differences in verb forms for familiar address; and the grammaticalization of expressive palatalization in the case of the xu form of address (xu being an expressive variant of the polite pronoun zu). Current trends towards simplification of the systems of address are also discussed, as is the existence of groups of speakers who use a simplified system.

Basque informal talk increasingly restricted to men: The role of gender in the form of address hika

“…In any case, our results are in agreement with the few studies carried out so far to measure the use of hika (Soziolinguistika Klusterra, 2016). Alberdi (2018) explained that same-sex conversations facilitate the use of hika, but we saw that this criterion mostly applies to man-to-man relationships and does not take place among women. In fact, it is more commonly used in mixed than in woman-to-woman conversations.…”

“…), only the authority is allowed to speak hika (de Rijk, 1991). However, the situation is more complex in peer, solidarity relationships, in which the most common context seems to be when the interlocutor is a sibling or a friend (Alberdi, 2018). Within these situations, de Rijk (1991) has argued that the hika form is relevant for the encodement of an attitude of solidarity, and we turn now to those contexts.…”

“…Historically, there are four forms (cf. Alberdi, 2018) but only two are used to a significant extent in the 21st century: zuka (formal) and hika (informal). There are similar forms, for instance, in Spanish and French with the formal forms usted and vous and the informal forms tú and tu, respectively.…”

“…One of the most crucial features to promote or preclude the use of hika is sex 2 . Alberdi (2018) explains that different-sex relationships are more likely to provoke asymmetric hika treatment, and in general, sex difference is a major hindrance to the use of hika. Likewise, if an asymmetry takes place in the form of address, women will use hika whereas men will use the formal form of address.…”