Quand t’es dans la misère, c’est plus compliqué. Quelques remarques sur les emplois génériques de tu et vous

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the so-called "generic" uses of the second person pronouns tu and vous, in which they can compete with indefinite uses of the pronoun on. According to some analyses, in particular those which hypothesize a restructuring of the French pronominal system, tu and vous appear as simple equivalents of on. According to other analyses, on the contrary, the choice of tu or vous instead of on is not arbitrary and generic tu and vous retain an interpellation value of the interlocutor. We suggest that generic tu and vous, although they do not necessarily correspond to the address pronoun used (in particular generic tu, which can be used in the context of formal address) and they may be indifferent to the status of the interlocutor or interlocutors (his / her / their gender or number), do retain an address value.

Keywords

• address forms
• second person pronouns
• indefinite on
• generic uses
• auxiliary uses.