Number in personal pronouns

[Fernando Zuniga]

Since Enrique brought up some Mexican Spanish data, I'd like to contribute
to the survey with some Chilean Spanish data: Roughly, middle class youngsters
typically refer to their parents with singular possessives ("mi papá", "mi
mamá") when talking to non-relatives while upper class youngsters clearly tend
to use the bare article ("el papá", "la mamá") in all social contexts. When
speaking to siblings, my impression is that a considerable number of middle
class youngsters may deliberately choose between the possessive or the article
depending on what aspect of the relationship is to be highlighted. Thus,
when talking to a brother or sister, at least some speakers may find (1) more
felicitous than (2) if the speaker's relationship to his/her father is at the
center of attention (e.g. after an argument or because the speaker had been
away for a long time, etc.) but (2) more felicitous than (1) if no sort of
"emotional asymmetry" is intended.

(1) Mi papá ?dijo adónde iba?
my father he.said to.where he.was.going

(2) El papá ?dijo adónde iba?
the father he.said to.where he.was.going

Fernando Zúñiga
Institut fuer Linguistik
University of Leipzig

--
+++ GMX - Mail, Messaging & more  http://www.gmx.net +++
Bitte lächeln! Fotogalerie online mit GMX ohne eigene Homepage!