Voseo in Medellin, Colombia: a distinctive dialectal feature of paisa identity

This study investigated the voseo in Medellin, Colombia to determine which factors contribute to its use and whether or not speakers consider this dialectal feature to be part of the paisa culture. Ten upper class speakers from Medellin provided information through questionnaires. Data show that the kind of relationship with interlocutors, their age, and the gender of the speakers are factors that influence the use of vos as a form of address. The analysis of the results shows that paisas, regardless of their age, see the voseo as part of their identity and as a linguistic phenomenon of membership to their community. This study constitutes the basis for future studies about this phenomenon and a point of reflection in the teaching field about the importance of including voseo in L2 Spanish classrooms.