Resumen:
This study presents the use of pronominal and nominal address forms in love letters written by women between 1624 and 1787. Being Sociocultural Pragmatics -Theory of (Dis)courtesy- and Historical Sociolinguistics the framework employed, the women writers' and their addressees' characteristics as well as the circumstances char surround the missives' delivery are analyzed in detail with the aim of determining in which way and in which order the usually considered power dimensions, solidarity and status work-if they do so- in the selection of the forms of address. Furthermore, in this analysis the love epistles' normative uses according to the manuals of politeness in the period are contrasted with the uses observed in the women writers of the texts examined. In addition, when it is possible, these uses are counterposed to their addressees' love letters with the purpose of ascertaining the significance of the discursive tradition and the gender factor regarding the use of the address forms. The results of this study are presented in two sections: in the first one, the love relationship existing between the interlocutors is shown as a decisive factor -above power, status or the individual and social features of the female writers- in the respectful uses or the addresses as tii selection; in the second section, our female writers' conscious management of the strategic value in the address forms and other epistolary formulas of politeness is identified according to the knowledge of a code of conduct. © 2022 Vervuert Verlag. All rights reserved.
