What is it about?
This research explores how Spanish speakers in Philadelphia use formal and informal pronouns (tú and usted) on public signs, challenging traditional classroom rules about formality. By analyzing 250 signs across Hispanic neighborhoods and online spaces, I found that pronoun choice depends more on the purpose of the message than on the relationship between speaker and reader. Formal usted appears more often in requests, while informal tú is used to persuade or invite. The absence of vos, despite a Salvadoran presence, suggests linguistic adaptation to dominant Spanish-speaking groups in the city.
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Why is it important?
These findings offer valuable insight into language use in immigrant communities. Instead of forming a completely new dialect, Spanish speakers in Philadelphia are developing a shared way of communicating. This highlights the flexibility of language, which is shaped more by everyday interactions than by strict textbook rules. Public signs provide a glimpse into how language changes and adapts as diverse communities come together in a new environment.
Perspectives
As someone deeply interested in how language evolves in real-world settings, I find this study particularly exciting because it highlights the flexibility of language and the way communities shape their own communication norms. The signs in Philadelphia tell a story that goes beyond grammar rules—they reflect cultural adaptation, social interaction, and even the shifting identities of Spanish-speaking groups in the city. Language is shaped by the needs and habits of everyday people rather than rigid textbook guidelines, and I hope this research can help us challenge assumptions about how we teach and understand Spanish in diverse, multicultural environments.
Juan Daniel Guarin
Temple University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Pronominal address in the linguistic landscape of Hispanic Philadelphia, Language Culture and Society, September 2024, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/lcs.23004.gua.
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