Processes and changes in Minas Gerais’ 18th century abbreviations: regularity and rupture

Abstract

This study analyzed 18th century abbreviations from documents written in Arraial do Tijuco, today Diamantina, in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Brachygraphic resources used in religious brotherhoods’ commitments from different social strata were compared to test two hypotheses: (i) abbreviations reflect differences between strata and therefore (ii) they allow identifying the degree of literacy of writing subjects. The analysis undertaken do not attest the correctness of assumptions, but the generalizations reached indicate that abbreviations, as any other linguistic phenomenon, suffer systematic, organized and multiple change processes, a different result from those that the meagre literature on the subject provides.