Microcortesía y cambios en los tratamientos pronominales en español

Abstract

Micropoliteness and change in the pronominal system of adresse forms This paper examines the concept of micropoliteness or sympathetic politeness as a type of verbal politeness different from normal courtesy or strategic courtesy that have been used to explain some uses of forms of address in Spanish. This concept allows for a common explanation for some uses of Hispanic address forms, usually conceived as exceptional cases (the so-called: affectionate usted (Sp. usted de cariño/de coqueteo), patrician usted (Sp. usted Patricio), festive usted (usted festivo), affective su merced (Sp. su merced afectivo) or meliorative vosotros (Sp. vosotros meliorativo)). The analysis of the data provided in the bibliography and some of our own shows how these treatments described in the literature are not fully explained neither through the classic concepts of power and solidarity nor through other parameters that extend and complement the previous ones.