From ul to U.E.
-
Judith Nobels
Abstract
In this paper, the use of forms of address in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Dutch private letters is examined from a sociolinguistic perspective. While most research has focused on the origin and regional spread of certain forms of address, the present paper will take into account the influence of social factors (class and gender) on the basis of a unique collection of letters written by people from various sorts of backgrounds. The article shows that class determines the distribution of forms of address in the private letters of both periods, while genders only an important factor for the seventeenth century. The analysis also reveals a clear development in time, as the most frequently used seventeenth-century form of address (ul) is replaced by another, originally marginal form in the eighteenth century (U.E.).
Abstract
In this paper, the use of forms of address in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Dutch private letters is examined from a sociolinguistic perspective. While most research has focused on the origin and regional spread of certain forms of address, the present paper will take into account the influence of social factors (class and gender) on the basis of a unique collection of letters written by people from various sorts of backgrounds. The article shows that class determines the distribution of forms of address in the private letters of both periods, while genders only an important factor for the seventeenth century. The analysis also reveals a clear development in time, as the most frequently used seventeenth-century form of address (ul) is replaced by another, originally marginal form in the eighteenth century (U.E.).
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface & Acknowledgements vii
- Ego-documents in a historical-sociolinguistic perspective 1
- A lady-in-waiting’s begging letter to her former employer (Paris, mid-sixteenth century) 19
- Epistolary formulae and writing experience in Dutch letters from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 45
- From ul to U.E. 67
- Flat adverbs and Jane Austen’s letters 91
- Letters from Gaston B. 107
- Written documents 129
- The rhetoric of autobiography in the seventeenth century 149
- “All the rest ye must lade yourself” 165
- Cordials and sharp satyrs 183
- Self-reference and ego involvement in the 1820 Settler petition as a leaking genre 201
- Ego-documents in Lithuanian 225
- The language of slaves on the island of St Helena, South Atlantic, 1682–1724 243
- Index 277
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface & Acknowledgements vii
- Ego-documents in a historical-sociolinguistic perspective 1
- A lady-in-waiting’s begging letter to her former employer (Paris, mid-sixteenth century) 19
- Epistolary formulae and writing experience in Dutch letters from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 45
- From ul to U.E. 67
- Flat adverbs and Jane Austen’s letters 91
- Letters from Gaston B. 107
- Written documents 129
- The rhetoric of autobiography in the seventeenth century 149
- “All the rest ye must lade yourself” 165
- Cordials and sharp satyrs 183
- Self-reference and ego involvement in the 1820 Settler petition as a leaking genre 201
- Ego-documents in Lithuanian 225
- The language of slaves on the island of St Helena, South Atlantic, 1682–1724 243
- Index 277
