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ERIC Number: EJ1361594
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Sep
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2164-5965
EISSN: N/A
"Ustedeo," "Voseo," or "Tuteo" in Costa Rica: "Un Arroz con Mango"
Schmidt-Rinehart, Barbara C.; LeLoup, Jean W.
NECTFL Review, v89 p11-25 Sep 2022
An accurate portrayal of contemporary Spanish in Costa Rica necessitates the inclusion of a discussion of forms of address. Costa Rica is commonly listed among the countries that include "voseo" as part of its pronominal paradigm. The present descriptive study elucidates the sociolinguistic reality of "voseo" in Costa Rica and elaborates on the dynamics of second-person singular forms of address or register. Data were derived from a two-part study designed to investigate the use of "usted," "vos," and "tú" together with their corresponding verb forms, with whom and in which contexts are these forms of address used, how might the linguistic landscape be changing, and why. In the initial investigation, 132 in-country person-to-person interviews of native speakers from all seven provinces were conducted and analyzed. The results revealed that "ustedeo" was overwhelmingly the form of choice in all contexts, "voseo" was noticeably present, and "tuteo" rarely appeared in the speech of the interlocutors. Subsequent exploration of the linguistic landscape of the country as evidenced in over 500 tokens of print media and signage indicated a different usage of these forms of address. Results showed that all three forms were prevalent. This incongruence has ramifications for Spanish language instruction as well as those wishing to interact appropriately in the Costa Rican culture.
Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. 2400 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214. e-mail: info@nectfl.org; Web site: https://www.nectfl.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Costa Rica
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A