Language and Colonization
The legacies of colonization and its impact on language.
Cenzontle team with participants at the Activating Language Beats Hip Hop Nativo Festival at UNC Asheville, April 2023.
Did you know that there is a “formal” and “informal” way to address people in Spanish? Want to learn more about the history and which one you prefer for your translated documents? Continue reading!
The colonization of first peoples brought the arbitrary imposition of new customs, religion, culture beliefs and language. A huge part of ancestral wisdom and traditions of millenia were prohibited and the language was castilianized. Nowadays, there are very few indigenous people who maintain the purity of their language.
One of the legacies of colonization of language is the use of pronouns. USTED (formal “you”), TÚ (informal “you”) y VOS (“you” used in some places, comes from Vosotros). Languages such as Náhuatl and Quiché, and some Cherokee people don’t use the formal form USTED but they do practice respect, not only between people but also towards the flora and fauna, nature, and earth itself.
During the Middle Ages in Spain, TÚ would be used to express familiarity and VOS was used to express distance and respect. In the 16th century, the form VUESTRA MERCED became widely used, as a more courteous form. By the end of the century, USTED came to existence as a variant. During the next century, all of the variants were used: TÚ, VOS, VUESTRA MERCED and USTED.
Thus, with the arrival of colonization in the Americas came the pronouns and the separation and classification of people. The indigenous people began to be treated as inferior beings, and were therefore addressed as TÚ, regardless of their age, while the colonizers had to be addressed as VUESTRA MERCED, thereby marking their superiority disguised as "respect." With mestizaje, VUESTRA MERCED became the way to address wealthy and educated people, and later, with the variation USTED, it also began to distinguish older people.
The first peoples were forced to bow their heads and speak with 'respect' to those who considered themselves superior. And so, generation after generation, separation and classification arose in the name of respect. The use of USTED extended between parents and children, bosses and employees, older and younger people, strangers, and relatives. To this day, this is the norm in some countries like Mexico, for example.
It should be noted that USTED, TÚ, and VOS became anchored differently in various parts of the Americas. Just to mention a few examples: in Argentina, VOSEO is the standard and is used universally. VOSEO is reciprocal and is used between teachers and students, in stores, or in taxis, etc. In Costa Rica, USTED is used to show authority and respect towards older people and children; VOSEO is reciprocal but also goes from top to bottom in the social hierarchy. In Colombia, USTED is customarily reciprocal, although it varies by region.
A survey conducted by Alejandra Mastrangelo indicates that 90% of respondents prefer “TUTEO” (informal "you"). They state that respect does not depend on USTED (formal "you") and should be an agreement between speakers. Other respondents noted that “TUTEO” has a rejuvenating effect on older people and fosters a sense of camaraderie among the young. Opinions are divided when it comes to the workplace. This is where colonization is most evident, with a separation between bosses and employees, architects and laborers, teachers and students, etc.
In the end, everyone decides how they want to speak. The suggestion is to consider the person you are talking to and ask how they want to be addressed: TÚ, VOS, or USTED, so that there is no division between people, as, ultimately, we are all equal—a fact the first peoples already knew.
At Cenzontle, our job is to break down barriers, build bridges, and ensure language justice. For this reason, we invite our clients to fill out a form indicating their preferred language style when requesting our services (formal, informal, inclusive, traditional, non-binary). We are committed to fully meeting their needs.
Credits: Instituto Cervantes Estocolmo y Alejandra Mastrangelo
