The Spanish indefinite pronoun uno: interpretation and discursive functioning

The aim of this paper is to analyze the discursive functioning of the Spanish pronoun uno (‘one’/‘you’), in its non-numeral uses. Such uses are typically described in the literature as "generic", "impersonal" or "undefined." In this study, I will show what mechanisms and factors influence their interpretation, paying specific attention to differences in discourse genre. Furthermore, I will propose an analysis of uno as strategy of intersubjectivity. I will establish a classification of undefined uno through a qualitative analysis of occurrences obtained from two different corpora, namely an informal conversations corpus (CORLEC) and a written academic discourse corpus (CLAE), which will allow me to discover which factors influence the interpretative mechanisms. Using two corpora of different genres/text types allows me to analyze the impact of the factor discourse genre on the use of uno. I propose a first typology of different uses in terms of reference of this pronoun. It can vary from generic (1) to a particular individual, who can be the speaker (2), the hearer (3) or another person (4). However, I also observe different degrees of genericity within these categories, which justifies the qualitative analysis. (1) Este ejemplo es el contrario de lo que sucede en poblaciones como Woodland California en donde la ciudad es primordialmente mexicana y el español se puede escuchar en casi cualquier lugar que uno visite. (CLAE) ‘This example is the opposite of what happens in places like Woodland California where the city is primarily Mexican and Spanish can be heard in almost any place you visit.’ (2) Si hoy se acabara el agua pues me agarraría de sorpresa ya que uno vive al día y para planear lo que uno haría a futuro pues tendría uno que empezar a cambiar los hábitos. (YCCQA) ‘If the water ran out today, it would take me by surprise since you live day by day and to plan what you would do in the future, you would have to begin to change habits.’ (3) Claro, cuando uno tiene ya muchas ganas de hacer algo... (CORLEC – CONV) ‘Of course, when you are already very eager to do something …’ (4) Tuvo muchos críticos Cantinflas, pero sin críticos, uno no puede tener carácter. (CLAE) ‘Cantinflas had many critics, but without critics, you cannot have character.’ I will show that some uses of this undefined uno are marks of intersubjectivity, as defined by Benveniste (1966) and Traugott (2003), i.e. an expression of attention of the speaker / writer to the hearer. Therefore I will propose a scale of intersubjectivity of the uses of uno, in order to describe in more detail their functioning in both genres/text types. Corpora CLAE: Corpus de lenguaje académico en español. 2009. http://www.lenguajeacademico.info. CORLEC: Corpus del Español centro-peninsular, 1990-1993. References Benveniste, Emile. 1966. « De la subjectivité dans le langage. » Problèmes de linguistique générale. Paris: Editions Gallimard. Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. 2003. “From subjectification to intersubjectification.” In Hickey, Raymond (ed.), Motives for Language Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 124-139