Historical Evolution of Spanish Pronouns of Address
✅ Classical Latin
In Classical Latin, tú was used as the singular second-person pronoun, and vos as the plural second-person pronoun.
✅ 4th Century
Vos began to be used as a term of address for Roman emperors, leading to the differentiation between tú as an informal/familiar form and vos as a formal/formalized form. Vos gradually came to be used to address individuals of high status, while tú was used among commoners. Among nobles, vos was used to address each other.
✅ 12th Century
In medieval Spain, vos was used as a formal form of address between royalty and nobility, while tú was used for those of lower status. This led to a situation where tú and vos were used interchangeably for the same individuals in different contexts, marking the beginning of their coexistence.
✅ Mid-14th Century Spain
In the mid-14th century, a new formal pronoun of address, 'vuestra merced', emerged to replace vos, which had lost its formal address function. Initially used alongside vos, 'vuestra merced' evolved into vuesanced, vuesarced, vuested, and eventually usted, becoming the sole formal second-person pronoun used in Spanish today.
vuestra merced→vuesanced → vuesarced → vuested → vuested →usted
✅ 15th Century
During the 15th century, the mixed use of tú and vos became more frequent, with vos gradually losing its original formal address meaning.
✅ 17th Century
In Spain, vos completely lost its function as a familiar pronoun and was replaced by tú. In Latin America, despite developments in Spain, vos continued to be used as a familiar pronoun of address in many cases.