How language shapes interpersonal distance: An analysis of pronominal forms of address in Spanish, Polish and Italian

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to compare the formal and functional aspects of pronominal forms of address in three languages: Spanish, Polish and Italian. The classic typology of the category analysed divides it in two groups: the T-forms applied in the conversations between the participants of symmetrical relations and the V-forms considered reverential and asymmetrical. The present study demonstrates and analyses the pronominal systems in two Romance languages, Spanish and Italian, and a Slavic language, Polish. We classify the pronouns according to the confidentiality/distance parameter, showing the similarities and differences between the formal characteristics, as well as the socio-cultural factors that determine the election of determined pronominal form of address.