The exceptional loss of the pronoun T

Abstract

Calculations on lexical stability show that the V-pronoun is variable but the T-pronoun is stable across language families (cf. Swadesh 1971(cf. Swadesh [2006Wichmann and Holman, 2009;Tadmor et al., 2010). In fact, the T-pronoun is in the top 10 of basic vocabulary items. Nevertheless, both English and Dutch have lost their T-pronoun. We suggest that this unexpected loss of T in English and Dutch can be explained via an exceptional combination of circumstances, namely (1) a focus on negative politeness, (2) the possibility of deflection via the loss of the T-pronoun and (3) pressure on the inflectional system due to language contact involving adult second language learners. These factors lead to two predictions: one related to the subject-non-subject ratio, and one related to text style. We test both predictions in a corpus of 13th and 16th century texts.

The politeness ofvocêin European Portuguese

“…Furthermore, unlike the explanation put forward by Aalberse and Stoop (2015) where the need for the loss of inflection, socio-pragmatic conditions and language contact have to occur at the same time to trigger the displacement of T by another form, we have demonstrated that the disappearance of T is more common than expected and it has to do with the social and pragmatic conditions of a certain society. Even though loss of inflection and change contact may also play a role in the loss of T, cross-linguistic cases show that the generalisation of a given term depends on the consideration the term is attributed.…”

“…We believe (as Brown and Gilman 1960;Brown and Levinson 1987;or Watts 2003;suggest) that the decline or rise of a given form of address or a given politeness strategy is subjected to social and pragmatic conditions, such as the ideology that is extended throughout a given society. In fact, unlike the arguments put forward by Aalberse and Stoop (2015) that assure that loss of T is exceptional, we defend that T is more inclined to disappear than one might expect and that this development is the consequence of a mere socio-pragmatic matter. Below, we present several examples that support our argument.…”

“…The scholars that hold that the terms of address are subjected to linguistic change point out that the rise of new forms or the decline of others depend on an array of consequences that stem from loss of inflection in combination with language contact and socio-pragmatic factors. Aalberse and Stoop (2015) exemplify this argument by describing the evolution of the Portuguese phenomenon a gente ('the people'), this means, the use of the noun phrase as 1pl with the agreement in third person, as well as the generalisation of you in English or u in Dutch. According to these authors, the tendency in Portuguese to lose inflection provoked the elimination of the old vósvocês system in plural and then the generalisation in certain parts of Brazil of você at the expense of tu.…”

“…The research carried out by Aalberse and Stoop (2015) assures that vós is no longer available in Spanish. Nevertheless, besides attesting it in rural areas of Peninsular Spanish, many Latin American countries use it as T. As a matter of fact, the loss of tú in the Spanish spoken in Latin America is quite an investigated topic that these authors have not taken into account.…”

La cortesía en la Península Ibérica

“…Cabe preguntarse si esta tendencia relativamente frecuente de supleción de una forma por otra ocurre en mayor medida en contextos V o T. Aalberse & Stoop (2015) afirman que el inglés y el holandés son excepcionales porque, a diferencia de otras lenguas indoeuropeas, en las que el pronombre T es estable, en estas dos ha sido desbancado por un pronombre V. Sin embargo, los autores no han tenido en cuenta, al menos, la situación del portugués y español americanos, donde los pronombres V han desbancado en mayor o menor medida los pronombres T. De acuerdo con Hummel et al (2010), usted es el pronombre T en ciertas capas sociales, sin que haya ocurrencias de tú. En casi todas las zonas geográficas de Brasil, você en singular ha copado los usos de tu y es, actualmente, el pronombre T, cuando, en inicio, era V. En plural no existe vestigio de vós, siendo vocês, antiguo pronombre V, la forma T. Uno de los rasgos más característicos del español americano es el voseo, es decir, el empleo del antiguo vos (forma V) como pronombre de intimidad (forma T).…”