- Loísmo
Loísmo and its feminine counterpart laísmo is a feature of certain dialects of Spanish consisting of the use of the pronouns "lo" or "la" (which are normally used for
direct object s) in place of the pronoun "le" (which is used forindirect object s). Loísmo and laísmo are common in Castile.A simple example of loísmo and laísmo would be saying "lo hablé" (lit. "I spoke him") or "la hablé" (lit. "I spoke her") where a speaker of a dialect without loísmo would say "le hablé" (lit. "I spoke to him/her").
This effectively means the loss of a
declension al case marker. The difference between "lo" (accusative case ) and "le" (dative case ) are holdovers fromLatin declension . The general trend in the evolution of Spanish has been to drop such declensions, but most dialects of Spanish have preserved this feature for object pronouns. It just happens that speakers with loísmo have further lost this distinction.Another effect of loísmo and laísmo is that the gender of the indirect object is clearer than it would be using "le". One issue with non-loísmo dialects is that the "le" pronoun is ambiguous, as it does not specify gender. For example, "le doy un beso" can mean "I give him a kiss", "I give her a kiss", or even "I give you (formal) a kiss". One way around this ambiguity is to clarify the pronoun with a prepositional phrase; for our example, this would mean "le doy un beso a él", "le doy un beso a ella", or "le doy un beso a usted", respectively. Since "lo" indicates masculine and "la" indicates feminine, using loísmo and laísmo means that this clarification is not necessary.
Loísmo can also seemingly change the meaning of certain phrases, since some verbs take on a different meaning based on the case of their objects. For example, "le pegué" means "I struck him", but a speaker with loísmo would say "lo pegué", which means "I struck him" in dialects without loísmo.
Loísmo and the Real Academia Española
The
Real Academia Española listed loísmo and laísmo as correct in1771 ; however, it condemned its usage in1796 . It currently recognizes it as avulgarism .The lack of acceptance from the RAE has caused a certain classist or social stigma to be attached to loísmo and those who use it. This often leads to
hypercorrection , with loístas choosing the "le" pronoun even for direct objects as a form ofleísmo . It has also been a source for some criticism of the RAE itself.See also
*
Leísmo External links
Articles in the "Diccionario panhispánico de dudas" of the
Real Academia Española (in Spanish)
* [http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltGUIBusDPD?lema=lo%EDsmo Loísmo]
* [http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltGUIBusDPD?lema=la%EDsmo Laísmo]
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