Abstract
This chapter aims to provide an overview regarding variation and change between tu and voce pronouns in six samples of personal letters from the PHPB-SC, covering the period between 1870s and 1990s. Considering samples examined in this study, some tendencies may be signalized: (i) in the 19th century tu is largely used, while in the 20th century variation between tu and voce is observed; (ii) tu is mostly correlated to null subjects, and voce is mostly correlated to explicit subjects; (iii) tu seems to be associated to personal issues and voce seems to be associated to professional issues; (iv) tu is used most in Greater Florianopolis mesoregion, while voce is the most productive pronoun in the Planalto Serrano, Vale do Itajai and Nourthern Santa Catarina mesoregions, and these preferences appears to have some relation to the colonization of these cities. These results are discussed based on the field of historical sociolinguistics and may contribute to the second person singular pronouns description concerning written Portuguese in Brazil and in Santa Catarina specifically.
