Directions for the investigation of second person pronouns variation in Santa Catarina, Brazil

Based on the Theory of Variation and Change, in this paper the first results concerning the second person pronouns diachronic alternation in the subject position (tu similar to voce) found in personal letters from Santa Catarina State (Brazil) are presented. Firstly, letters written in the 19th and 20th centuries by famous writers from Florianopolis are analyzed, indicating the entrance of voce in the address forms system of Santa Catarina State in the 20th century. Then, in a diatopic analisys between letters written by non famous people from Florianopolis and letter written by non famous people from Lages in the second half of the 20th century, a preference for the pronoun tu in Florianopolis and for the pronoun voce in Lages is shown. In both cities, tu is related to a null subject, while voce is related to a full subject. Results suggest that, besides the diachronic contrast, it is also possible to identify a contrast between the letters written by famous and non famous people (diastratic variation) and a contrast between letters written in Florianopolis and Lages (diatopic variation).