vostede

Galician edit

Alternative forms edit

Vde., vosté, usté

Etymology edit

Attested since 1671 (bosastede). Borrowed and adapted from Spanish vuesasted or some similar variant, from the addressing form vuestra merced (“your grace”). The expected result from the inherited equivalent vossa mercee would be *vocé, but it seems to never have developed, the usual form being vós until Spanish borrowings started replacing it. Compare Catalan vostè, Portuguese você, Spanish usted.

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /bosˈteðɪ/

Pronoun edit

vostede m or f or sg (plural vostedes)

(formal) you
Synonym: (informal or neutral) ti

De onde é vostede?
Where are you from? (formal)
- 1697, José Gil Taboada, Grande loita de luceiros:
  Señora may (os luceyros
  Din) vostede s'afrontou
  Sen causa, porque esta loyta
  Ll'a de dar mais relumbros.
  Lady mother -the luminaries
  Say- your grace took offense
  With no motive, because this fight
  Will give you more shine

Usage notes edit

Although vostede is used as a second-person pronoun, it takes third-person verb forms and pronouns.

References edit

“vossa merçede” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
“uossa merçe” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
“vosa merçed” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
“vostede” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
“vostede” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
“vostede” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.