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You origins (2nd person pronoun)

Origins and predecessors of the 2nd person pronoun "you" and "yours"

  • thee, thou, thine, thy, ye
  • 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

  • Old English origin of "you"
    • from Old English "thou" and "ge"
    • or "ye" (objective case)
  • PIE origin of "you" and "thou"
    • 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"
    • 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 came to be used to show equal status, thus as a courtesy
  • You replaced "thou" and "ye" and became 2nd person singular, 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

2nd person case Nominative

(subject)

Indicative

(a command)

Accusative

(also "objective" for direct object)

Dative

(indirect object)

Genetive

(possessive determiner)

Possessive Pronoun Reflexive
singular plural singular plural singular plural singular plural singular plural singular plural
you singular or

plural

you go you [all] go You listen! You [all] listen! he spoke to you he speaks to you [all] he gives you a horse he gives you (all) a horse do it yourself do it yourselves
your / yours singular / plural your book [all] your book yours yours
thou singular subjective (informal) thou goest
thee singular objective he speeketh to thee he givest thee a horse
thy singular possessive thy kingdom doest it thy self
thine singular possessive of words that begin w/ a vowel thine apple thine thine own self
ye plural subjective

(or singular formal)

Ye goeth

or My Lord, ye goeth

Ye listen! Hear ye! youres
  • note: the Wikipedia chart on "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

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"
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