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Vì sao một số người Colombia gọi mẹ là 'Lòng thương xót của bạn'
05 Mar, 2024
hai thế kỷ sau khi giành độc lập từ Tây Ban Nha, người Colombia sử dụng “sumercé”, nghĩa là “lòng thương xót của bạn” như cách xưng hô hàng ngày
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After Altair Jaspe moved from Venezuela to the Colombian capital, Bogotá, she was taken aback by the way she was addressed when she walked into any shop, cafe or doctor’s office.
In a city that was once part of the Spanish empire, she was no longer “señora,” as she would have been called in Caracas, or perhaps, in her younger years, “muchacha” or “chama.” (Venezuelan terms for “girl” or “young woman.”)
In most of the Spanish-speaking world, the principal ways to say “you” are the casual “tú,” and the formal “usted.” But in Colombia there is another “you” — “su merced,” meaning, “your mercy,” “your grace” or even “your worship,” and now contracted to the more economical “sumercé.”
In Bogotá, a city of eight million people nestled (ẩn mình) in the Andes Mountains, “sumercé” is ubiquitous, deployed not just by taxi drivers and shopkeepers to attend to clients (tham dự với khách hàng) (how can I help your mercy?), but also by children to refer to parents, parents to refer to children, and (sometimes with tender irony (sự mỉa mai dịu dàng)) even by husbands, wives and lovers to refer to each other (“would your mercy pass the salt?” or “your mercy, what do you think, should I wear these pants today?”).
“Sumercé” is indeed a relic of that era, and scholars have documented its use as a sign of courtesy in institutional relationships (quan hệ thể chế) (a letter from the governor of Cuba to the conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1518); a sign of respect in families (one brother-in-law to another in 1574); and, in particular, as a sign of servitude from slaves or servants to their masters.
Eventually, “sumercé” migrated south along with many Boyacenses, to Bogotá, becoming as much a part of the lexicon of central Colombia as “bacano” (cool), “chévere” (also cool), “parce” (friend), “paila” (difficult), “qué pena” (sorry) and “dar papaya.” (Literally, “give papaya,” but more figuratively, “act oblivious.” As in: “Your mercy, don’t act oblivious in the street, you’ll get robbed!”).
source: nytimes,
Tags: Hồng Nhungtravel
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