Re: Suppletory forms

Steg Belsky <draqonfayir@...> wrote:
>
> What exactly is _vos_?  A version of _tu'_?  "vas" seems to be the same
> in both conjugations, but why is it _tu' andas_ and _vos anda's_?  The
> vosotros is _anda'is_, right?
>
_Vos_ is the informal second person singular pronoun, in
Spanish Rioplatense, as spoken in most of Argentina and Uruguay.

Peninsular Spanish uses _tu'_ as 2s, and also _vosotros_ as 2p.

In Latin America _vosotros_ is replaced by _ustedes_, plural
form of _usted_, from the old expression _vuestra merced_
"your mercy" ("of you", not "of thee"). _Usted_ is 2s polite.
Both _usted_ and _ustedes_ take a *third* person verb.

Besides, in Rioplatense _tu'_ is replaced by _vos_. The conjugation
is also slightly changed (mostly in stress), and becomes similar
to the old _vosotros_ conjugation. The change doesn't affect
the possessive _tu_ or the clitic accusative _te_,
but the accusative _ti_ is also replaced by _vos_.

The final -s of _vos_ is almost always aspirated (/boh/)
or lost, and _vos_ becomes a clitic, hence _vos vas_ /bo'Bah/.

Currently, in Rioplatense, _tu'_ (and in very rare cases
_vosotros_) is used in lithurgy only. We know the old forms
because they make us learn them at school (seemingly for no
purpose other than being able to mock Peninsular Spanish speakers).
The local forms are still considered barbarisms by academic
purists (though they surely use them during their free time :-)
I don't know if non-Rioplantenses know our forms (Carlos?).


--Pablo Flores

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