El pronombre informal usted en la historia del español

Abstract

The Spanish language has usually codified the second person singular with binary pronominals, where usted is always the formal element (form of address V). Yet in contemporary Central America, an informal pronoum usted is in use (form of addess T). This Central American phenomenon (called ustedeo) represents a substantial distancing from the binary prototype, given that a single pronoun functions as the formal form of address (usted-V) as well as the informal (usted-T). This paper analyses two types of allocutive form of address codification in the Hispanic world: one whith a strictly grammatical base (two pronouns system) and the other of a more pragmatic nature (single pronoun system). In order to determine the origin of this latter system, this study will look at the dating of the ustedeo phenomenon, as a significant divergence from the binary pronominal prototype.