This paper intends to analyze the social meaning of terms and expressions related to epidemics of cholera and smallpox which affected thousands of people in Ceará (Brazil) during the nineteenth century. Our corpus is composed of an 1899 novel called Violação, written by Rodolfo Teófilo; and of some articles from the weekly newspaper known as O Araripe, which was printed from 1855 to 1864 in Crato, Ceará. The main theoretical approach for this research is the Historical Linguistics (lato sensu) studies, associated with the methodology of analysis developed by the Social History of Language, mainly considering the methods used by Burke and Porter (1993, 1997) and Burke (2010). In addition to that, our analytical work also comprehends the use of theoretical proposals created by Benveniste (1995, 1989), especially those ones which deal with the relationship between language and reality or between lexicon and culture. The conclusions obtained from our analysis point out that it is necessary to understand the language not as a simulacrum of reality, but as a living part of social, cultural and historical realities of humankind. The relationship between words and diseases can be highlighted by historical and sociocultural conceptions as well as by prejudices; besides that, it also reveals the social functions of the language
Historical Linguistics; Social history of Language; Violação by Rodolfo Teófilo; Weekly Araripe; Diseases. Language and reality