1. Story, style, and structure: The second person in early Uruguayan children’s literature
Teresa Butt1 and Maria Irene Moyna2
1Baylor university
2Texas A&M University
Lasso 45
Austin, Texas, September 16-18, 2016

2. Introduction

3. Introduction Long-term project:
Complete description of second person forms in Uruguayan Spanish:
Social variation
Changes over time
To complete the picture:
Reflection of speech in artistic media, which show differences between ‘authentic’ and ‘represented’ use (Moyna & Ceballos 2008)

4. Background

5. Forms of address in Uruguayan spanish
Distinction between formal and informal address:
Formal: usted (retracting)
Informal: tú and vos (competing; voseo gaining ground)
Voseo:
Use of the etymological 2pl (vos) and its verbal forms (amás, comés, vivís) for a singular addressee

6. Forms of address in Uruguayan Spanish
Formal
Informal
Ustedeo
Tuteo
Voseo
Hybrid voseo
Pronouns
Subject
usted tú
vos
vos/tú
Obj. prep.
(a) usted
(a) ti
(a) vos
(a) vos/ti
Obj. con
con usted
contigo
con vos
Verbs
Imperative
cante
canta
cantá
Cantá
Pres. Indic.
cantas
cantás
Pres. Subj.
cantes
cantés
Neg. Imper.
(no) cante
(no) cantes
(no) cantés
(no) cantes (cantés)
Preterite
cantó
castaste
cantaste(s)
cantaste
Table 1. Pronominal and verbal paradigms of the second person (formal and informal), showing forms with a three-way distinction.

7. Forms of address in uruguayan Spanish
Imperative
Present Indicative
Rural
V ~ T V
Buenos AIres
T (V)
Table 2. Voseo/tuteo alternation in RPS before 1880 (data from Fontanella de Weinberg 1971, 1987).

8. Forms of address in uruguayan Spanish
Imperative
Present Indicative
Rural
V ~ T V
Buenos AIres
T (V)
Table 2. Voseo/tuteo alternation in RPS before 1880 (data from Fontanella de Weinberg 1971, 1987).

9. Forms of address in uruguayan spanish
Imperative
Present Ind.
Present Subj.
Born before 1850
75.9%
65.4%
49.7%
Born
80.9%
77.4%
44.5%
Born
99.4%
92.9%
25%
Born
99.8
99%
20.2%
Born
99.1%
99.9%
16.9%
Table 3. Voseo percentages in RPS after 1880 (data from Moyna & Ceballos 2008, Siracusa 1972)

10. Spoken vs. written usage
Most studies of USp address focus on speech.
In writing or scripted speech voseo is less frequent:
Subject to prescriptive pressures (Lipski 1991, Tricola 2011, Weyers 2012)
Even in varieties with categorical voseo, textbooks avoid these forms (García Negroni & Ramírez Gelbes 2010)

11. Language representation in children’s literature
Purpose of children’s literature:
Pedagogical:
development of literacy, creativity, imagination
Social:
integrate children into their communities
Teaching values and ideologies (Knowles & Malmjær 1996: 62)
‘social transcript of power relations’ (Botelho & Kabakow Rudman 2009: 71)
Linguistic:
Teach dynamics of language and power, matching of class and dialectal varieties (Stamou 2012)

12. history of children’s literature in Uruguay
Storytelling as nation-building

13. Uruguay and nationhood
The eastern board of the Río de la Plata was disputed by the Spanish and Portuguese Crowns.
After independence, the Banda Oriental was a province of the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata (Argentina), coveted (and invaded) by the Luso-Brazilian Empire.
Portugal
Spain

14. Uruguay and nationhood
Independent self-standing state (1830) though British intervention
Tenuous status throughout the 19th century :
City vs. country
Cultural and linguistic north/south split
Interventions by bordering countries

15. Uruguay and nationhood
Massive European immigration during 19th and early 20th centuries:
Mostly Italians and Spaniards (esp. Galicians and Basques)
Changes to phenotype, social mores, and language.
Fast assimilation:
Physical proximity with local population in urban slums
compulsory early education (starting in 1877)

16. Uruguay and nationhood
Education countered (internal and external) threats to national unity (Oroño 2011, 2014a,b):
Teacher as ‘foot soldier’
Curriculum as strategy:
standard Spanish variety
Stigmatization of non-standard phonetic variants, lexicon, and morphology (voseo)

17. Uruguayan children’s literature
Origins of literature for young readers:
Intertwined with literacy education (est. 1877)
Late 1800s:
Local authors of pedagogical narratives
Early 20th century:
Renowned authors start writing children’s books:
Horacio Quiroga, Juana de Ibarbourou, Paco Espínola, Juan José Morosoli, Adolfo Montiel Ballesteros

18. Language representation in children’s literature
Specific objective of this study:
To quantify and analyze the representation of second person address between 1918 and 1973
To compare and contrast it with modern Uruguayan children’s literature

19. Methodology

20. Sources

21. Sources Title (Year) Author Genre
Cuentos de la selva (1918)
Horacio Quiroga
Animal fiction
Cuentos para mis hijos (1930)
Saltoncito (1930)
Francisco Espínola
Queguay, el niño indio (1935)
Adolfo Montiel Ballesteros
Environmental fiction
Fábulas: fábulas, mitos y leyendas indoamericanas (1946)
Traditional legends
Chico Carlo (1944)
Juana de Ibarbourou
Autobiography
Las aventuras de Juan el Zorro (1950)
Serafín J. García
Piquín y Chispita (1967)
Buscabichos (1970)
Julio C. Da Rosa
Realistic fiction
Gurises y pájaros (1973)
Table 4. Works included in this study.

23. Analysis

24. Analysis Data collection:
Identification of second person singular forms in dialog and narration
Verbs:
Imperative, present indicative, present subjunctive, preterite
Pronouns:
subject, object of preposition, object of preposition con
Quantification and tabulation of V, T, U forms:
Forms without a three-way distinction were discarded:
E.g., te/tuyo (and the corresponding formal le/suyo), ves, das
Contexts of use were identified:
Speaker, addressee, purpose, location

25. Results

26. Quantitative findings

27. Verbs: inFormal vs. formal
Forms
Informal (%)
Formal (%)
Imperative
234 (58.8)
164 (41.2)
Pres. Ind.
275 (56.9)
208 (43.1)
Pres. Subj.
40 (49.4)
41 (50.6)
Neg. Imp.
41 (49.4)
42 (50.6)
Preterite
42 (68.9)
19 (31.1)
Totals
632 (57.1)
474 (42.9)
Table 5. Totals and percentages of formal and informal verbs, by verb tense/mood.

28. Verbs: Informal vs. formal
Figure 1. Percentages of formal and informal verbs, by verb tense/mood.

29. VERBS: Tuteo vs. Voseo Forms Tuteo (%) Voseo (%) Imperative 135 (57)
99 (42.3)
Pres. Indicative
189 (68.7)
86 (31.1)
Neg. Imperative
36 (87.8)
5 (12.2)
Pres. Subjunctive
40 (100)
0 (0)
Preterite
42 (100)
Totals
442 (69.9)
190 (30.1)
Table 6. Totals and percentages of tuteo and voseo verbs, by verb tense/mood.

30. Verbs: tuteo vs. voseo
Figure 2. Percentages of tuteo and voseo verbs, by verb tense/mood.

31. Pronouns: inFormal vs. formal
Forms
Informal (%)
Formal (%)
Subject
110 (47)
124 (53)
Object of prep.
21(50)
21 (50)
Object of con
11 (100)
0 (0)
Totals
144 (49.5)
145 (50.5)
Table 7. Totals and percentages of formal and informal pronouns.

32. Pronouns: formal vs. informal
Figure 3. Percentages of formal and informal pronouns.

33. Pronouns: tuteo vs. Voseo
Forms
Tuteo (%)
Voseo (%)
Subject
62 (56.4)
48 (43.6)
Object of prep.
16 (76.2)
5 (23.8)
Object of con
6 (54.5)
5 (45.5)
Totals
84 (59.2)
58 (40.8)
Table 8. Totals and percentages of voseo and tuteo pronouns.

34. Pronouns: tuteo vs. voseo
Figure 4. Percentages of voseo and tuteo pronouns.

35. Chronological differences
Title
Tuteo (%)
Voseo (%)
Ustedeo (%)
Cuentos de la selva (1918)
33 (50)
0 (0)
Cuentos para mis hijos (1930)
41 (95.3)
2 (4.7)
Saltoncito (1930)
95 (96.9)
3 (3.1)
Queguay el niño indio (1935)
72 (69.9)
31 (31.1)
Fábulas (1946)
43 (37)
22 (19)
51 (44)
Chico Carlo (1944)
49 (55.1)
33 (37.1)
7 (7.9)
Las aventuras de Juan el Zorro (1950)
11 (3.3)
105 (31.5)
217 (65.2)
Piquín y Chispita (1967)
82 (79.6)
21 (20.4)
Buscabichos (1970)
41 (56.2)
3 (4.1)
29 (39.7)
Gurises y pájaros (1973)
7 (6.6)
27 (25.5)
72 (67.9)
Table 9. Totals and percentages of voseo and tuteo verbs, by title.

36. Summary Verbs: Pronouns:
Informal address is preferred overall, but formal address is frequent (40%)
Of the two informal address forms:
standard tuteo is more common overall (almost 70%), and in some verb tenses/moods it is categorical (preterite, present subjunctive)
Voseo frequency isn’t uniform across forms: imperative > present indicative > negative imperative
Pronouns:
Formal and informal address are evenly split.
Tuteo is more common (60% overall)
Voseo frequency is higher in subject than prepositional object (the case of con is complex, but data counts are low)
There is a clear difference in form of address representation between books written before 1940 and those written afterwards:
Before 1940: no voseo whatsoever
After 1940: a variety of strategies in informal address (exclusive voseo, exclusive tuteo, mixing)

37. Qualitative findings

38. Saltoncito (1930) Author: Francisco Espínola (1901-1983)
a well-known intellectual of the Uruguayan left
spent most of his life in Uruguay
involved in college education and politics
Wrote for adults and for children
Book: Saltoncito (‘Little Jumper’)
Short novella for young children
Story of a (child) frog who leaves home to explore the forest, meets many other animals (wise owl, girl-frog, soldier frogs, the frog king), to finally discover he is the frog prince
Main characters: his mother, frogs he encounters, other animals.
Instant classic of its time, beloved story still used extensively in schools all over the country (performed as a school play, etc.)
Forms of address used:
mostly tuteo, very little ustedeo
And…..

39. Saltoncito (1930)
Figure 5. Address usage among characters in Saltoncito (1930) (T = tú; VR = reverential vos)

40. Address in saltoncito Reverential vos:
is not a feature of spoken USp and hasn’t been in the repertoire since colonial times
Appears in highly stylized portions of the text (e.g., it is discovered that Saltoncito is a prince)(1)
(1 ) “¡Pero Alteza! ¡Vos os burláis!”
‘But, Your Highness! …. You are making fun of me!’

41. Chico carlo (1944) Author: Juana de Ibarbourou(1892-1987)
born in Melo (Cerro Largo, Uruguay)
Member of a generation of internationally acclaimed women poets in the Southern Cone
Wrote poetry and prose, including several books for children (narrative, readers, play scripts)
Book: Chico Carlo (‘Young Carlo’)
Collection of semi-autobiographical short episodes about the life of a young girl from a small Uruguayan town, and her friendship with a local boy
Main characters: her mother, sister, nanny, and the boy of the title
Forms used:
Tuteo and voseo

42. Chico carlo (1944)
Figure 6. Address usage among characters in Chico Carlo (1944) (T= tú; V= vos)

43. Address in Chico carlo Tuteo is used: Voseo is reserved for:
By all members of the girl’s immediate home environment
By all the women
Voseo is reserved for:
exchanges between the girl and the ‘wild child’ Chico Carlo
Narratively:
Tuteo is a marker of the world of ‘civilization’, urban, feminine, and tame
Voseo defines a parallel world, rural, masculine, and adventurous

44. Las aventuras de Juan el zorro (1950)
Author: Serafín J. García ( )
born in Cañada Grande (Treinta y Tres, Uruguay)
Grew up in the countryside, attending school briefly
Worked as a journalist and policeman in the interior
Moved to Montevideo in his thirties when he became a famed writer
Book: Las Aventuras de Juan el Zorro
Story of a cunning fox who lives in a rural area and uses sneaky tactics to survive, most notably when he confronts the local political boss (tiger)
Juan el Zorro is an antihero with many ethical flaws: opportunistic, lazy, prays on other character’s weaknesses (the ostrich’s stupidity, the tiger’s arrogance and narcissism)
he is also a survivor and a subverter of an unfair social order he is powerless to change by other means (the trickster)
There are many versions of this story both in the oral and written traditions of the Río de la Plata
Address forms used:
Mostly ustedeo, also voseo, hardly any tuteo

45. Las aventuras de Juan el Zorro (1950)
Figure 7. Address usage among characters in Las aventuras de Juan el Zorro (1950) (U= usted; V= vos).

46. Address in Juan el zorro
Clear pattern of use:
Symmetrical:
Ustedeo in all exchanges among acquaintances of the same rank (e.g., fox and skunk)
Voseo reserved for the most intimate exchanges among close friends (e.g., fox and ostrich)
Asymmetrical:
usted-vos in hierarchical exchanges, from the lower to the higher ranked, and vice versa
Tuteo:
Reserved for verb tenses where the frequency of voseo use is very low (e.g., preterite); never used in imperative or present.
Pragmatic deviations:
Vos-to-usted switch as a form of social social recognition
Vos in non-intimate relationships as a sign of disrespect

47. Address in Las Aventuras de Juan el zorro (1950)
(2) Tigre: ¿Cómo es eso de padrino? ¿Y vos quién sos? Juan: ¡Su ahijao, pues! ¿Será posible que ya no me ricuerde? – exclamó Juan tendiéndole los brazos en efusivo gesto- ¡Y pensar que vengo’e tan lejos espresamente a verlo y a votar por usté! - … Tigre: ¡Qué ahijao, este! – exclamó-. ¡Tanto tiempo que no nos véiamos! ¡Vení a abrazar a tu padrino, pues! Tigre: Pite de este [tabaco] que es güeno, ahijao. Me lo trajo’e contrabando mi compadre Capincho aquí presente .... Tiger: “What do you mean, godson? Who areV youV? Fox: “YourU godson, yes! Is it possible that you don’ rememberU me?” Juan exclaimed, stretching his arms out effusively. “And to think that I come from so far just to see youU and vote for youU!” .... Tiger: “What a funny chap, my godson!” he exclaimed. It’s been so long since we last saw each other! ComeV and hug your godfather, then! Tiger: HaveU some of this [tobacco], the good stuff, godson. My compadre the Capibara here smuggled it for me.”

48. Address in las aventuras de don juan el zorro (1950)
(3) (To Parrot, who has just had all his feathers pulled in a prank meant to teach him a lesson about telling tales): - Andá que te emplume el Tigre, pedazo de adulón! – gritóle entonces Juan, saltando del camastro de la Tortuga-. ¡Y pa otra vez tené más cuidao de asujetar la sin güeso! “GoV have Tiger stick your feathers back on, you tattle-tale! – yelled Juan, jumping out of Turtle’s bed-. And next time, beV careful to hold your tongue!”

49. Conclusions

50. summary General conclusions:
Uruguayan children’s literature in the first three quarters of the 20th century:
Uses all formal and informal address forms in the dialect
Differences with contemporary children’s literature:
Formal address is much more frequent than we would expect (cf. Rosales & Moyna 2016: 16.5%); sometimes within the family or among friends
Of the two informal forms, tuteo is more frequent, presented as the urban middle class norm (today voseo is the norm, with tuteo restricted to a small set of contexts)
Use of reverential vos (and plural vosotros), both of which are highly marked today (but not impossible)
Similarities with historical data (Moyna 2009):
Voseo frequencies are not identical across verb tenses/moods: imperative > present indicative > negative imperative

51. Conclusions Early children’s literature: To-do:
operated somewhat like school textbooks: standard forms were presented as natural when they were not.
offered glimpses of authentic usage (depictions of the country)
employed forms of address for characterization, and to signal narrative shifts
pushed the envelope, several decades before voseo was considered acceptable in literate contexts
To-do:
Increase the number of stories, to have a more fine-grained analysis.
Tie the 1940s break in address representation to historical circumstances:
what made local writers move away from a linguistic representation based on foreign (Peninsular) models to one more rooted in the vernacular?
Spain’s social/economic collapse after the Civil War?
Rise of a local Río de la Plata norm,?
Something else?