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You origins (2nd person pronoun): Difference between revisions
You origins (2nd person pronoun) (view source)
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Origins of the 2nd person pronoun "you" | Origins and predecessors of the 2nd person pronoun "you" and "yours" | ||
* ''thee, thou, thy | * ''thee, thou, thine, thy, ye'' | ||
* useful for Shakespeare "you" translations | * these "you" forms are from "Middle English" | ||
** useful for Shakespeare "you" translations | |||
* "you" and "your/yours" replaced them into the 1600s | |||
** however, Shakespearean and Biblical texts have traditionally maintained "thee" / "thine" | |||
== "You" origins == | == "You" origins == | ||
* Old English origin of "you" | * Old English origin of "you" | ||
** from Old English "''thou''" | ** from Old English "''thou''" and "''ge''" | ||
** or "''ye''" (objective case) | ** or "''ye''" (objective case) | ||
* [[PIE proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] origin of "you" | * [[PIE proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] origin of "you" and "thou" | ||
** second person singular: '''*tege-''' (from which | ** ''you'' is from second person plural: '''*yu''' | ||
** ''thou'' is from second person singular: '''*tege-''' (from which the French and Spanish "''tu''" is derived) | |||
* transition from "thee" to "you" | * transition from "thee" to "you" | ||
** in Middle English, the second person plural form merged with the singular | ** in Middle English, the second person plural form merged with the singular | ||
*** 2nd person plural was original used for both plural "you" and out of respect to a superior "(thy") | *** 2nd person plural was original used for both plural "you" and out of respect to a superior "(thy") | ||
*** 2nd person plural came to be used to show equal status, thus as a courtesy | *** 2nd person plural came to be used to show equal status, thus as a courtesy | ||
* You replaced "thou" and "ye" and became 2nd person <u>singular</u>, formal, and | |||
** singular you = addressing one person | |||
** formal you = addressing a person of higher status | |||
** plural you = addressing more than one person | |||
*** often expressed, especially orally as | |||
**** ''all of you'' | |||
**** ''y'all'' | |||
**** ''you all'' | |||
**** ''you guys'' | |||
**** ''youse'' (New York, Philadelphia dialects) | |||
**** ''you-uns'' or ''yinz'' (Appalachia, Ozarks regions dialects) | |||
== Cases of "you" origins == | == Cases of "you" origins == | ||
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(indirect object) | (indirect object) | ||
! colspan="2" |Genetive | ! colspan="2" |Genetive | ||
(possessive) | (possessive determiner) | ||
!Reflexive | | colspan="2" |'''Possessive Pronoun''' | ||
! colspan="2" |Reflexive | |||
|- | |- | ||
! | ! | ||
! | ! | ||
!singular | |||
!plural | |||
!singular | !singular | ||
!plural | !plural | ||
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|he gives you a horse | |he gives you a horse | ||
|he gives you (all) a horse | |he gives you (all) a horse | ||
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|do it yourself | |||
|do it yourselves | |||
|- | |||
|your / yours | |||
|singular / plural | |||
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|your book | |your book | ||
|[all] your book | |[all] your book | ||
| | |yours | ||
| | |yours | ||
| | |||
| | |||
|- | |- | ||
|thou | |thou | ||
|singular subjective (informal) | |singular subjective (informal) | ||
|thou goest | |thou goest | ||
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|he givest thee a horse | |he givest thee a horse | ||
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|thy kingdom | |thy kingdom | ||
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|doest it thy self | |doest it thy self | ||
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|thine apple | |thine apple | ||
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|thine | |||
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|thine own self | |thine own self | ||
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|youres | |||
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|} | |} | ||
* note: the Wikipedia chart on "[[wikipedia:Ye_(pronoun)|Personal Pronouns in Middle English]]" distinguishes between: | |||
** thy as "possessive determiner" | |||
*** possessive determiner = indicates possession or belonging | |||
**** ''I like your shoes'' | |||
** and "thine" as "possessive pronoun | |||
*** ''Yours are as good as mine'' | |||
** here, we keep "thine" as possessive determiner if the noun it possesses begins with a vowel, so, | |||
*** "thy" precedes consonant | |||
**** ''thy kingdom'' | |||
*** "thine" precedes a noun | |||
**** ''thine apple'' | |||
** "thine" is otherwise, as per Wikipedia, a 2nd person singular possessive pronoun | |||
*** ''it is yours'' = ''it is thine'' | |||
=== Sources === | |||
* [https://allthedifferences.com/thee-vs-thou-vs-thy-vs-ye/ Thee vs. Thou vs. They vs. Ye (The Difference)] (from all the differences.com) | |||
* [[wikipedia:Thou|Thou (wikipedia)]] | |||
* [[wikipedia:You#History|You (wikipedia)]] | |||
* [[wikipedia:Ye_(pronoun)|Ye (wikipedia)]] | |||
== Ye as a definite article ("the") == | |||
* "''Ye Olde Shoppe''" as a title or name of a place is used commonly | |||
** here, "''ye''" takes on the role of the definite article, "''the''" | |||
* the replacement of "ye" for "the" was the result of writing practices by early scribes | |||
** those scribes used the letter "thorn", an Old English character, to represent the "''e''" in "''ye''" | |||
*** but that "thorn" character was not available to early printers | |||
*** they used the letter "y" to represent the "''th''" sound in "''the''" | |||
*** thus, "''the''" was for a time written as "''ye''" (while pronounced "the") | |||
== You as generic (indeterminate) person == | |||
* "you" is commonly used synonymously as "one" to indicate a generic or indeterminate (not-specific) person | |||
** as in "''You should really think before acting''" as general advice, not to a particular person | |||
* also known as the "generic you" | |||
[[Category:Grammar]] | |||
[[Category:Language]] | |||
[[Category:English Literature]] | |||