The word ‘thou’
Thou n. The pronoun by which a person (or thing) is addressed, in the nominative case singular; the pronoun denoting the person (or thing) spoken to.
I’m really into this word. I’ve always known it was an old-fashioned form of ‘you’. We hear it in Shakespeare and often in religious texts. But only recently did I learn its full history.
In Old English (far before Shakespeare’s time) ‘thou’ was basically what you used when you wanted to talk to one person. As in:
“Thou are seriously getting on my nerves.”
But if you wanted to talk to two people at once, you would use “you” or “ye”. As in:
“Hear ye, hear ye!”
or
“Okay, guys, jokes over. You can let me out now………………. Guys?……..Guys?!!!”
Over the centuries, as Old English evolved towards Modern English, people started the silly practice of addressing superiors in the plural ‘you’. I guess the logic was that they were better than you, so it was like… talking to two people? I don’t know. I’m guessing on that one.
Anyway, little by little people began using that plural ‘you’ for anyone they didn’t know who seemed at least their equal. Makes sense. You wouldn’t want to accidentally offend.
‘Thou’ was reserved for addressing children, as well as those very close to you… namely Family and God. Using ‘thou’ on anyone else was seen as insulting… hence the verb:
Thou v. To use the pronoun ‘thou’ to a person: familiarly, to an inferior, in contempt or insult, or as done on principle by Quakers. ie. “Oh, you did NOT just thou me!”
These days it remains in a few dialects… but it’s mostly gone.
So if you’ve ever studied a language with a formal form of ‘you’ (Usted, Sie, Vous, Lei) and wondered why English doesn’t have one… now you know we do. In English, we address each other only in the formal… also only in the plural… hmm.
Well if you’re looking to get down and dirty, if you know someone who’s in need of a serious thouing, here’s a little chart to help you.
I is to thou
as
me is to thee
as
my is to thy
as
mine is to thine
as
myself is to thyself
Play around with it. Let me know what you come up with.
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jacki on 04 Feb 2009 at 4:31 pm #
This is totally nerdy, but totally interesting! Right up my alley.
Ron Curry on 04 Feb 2009 at 7:20 pm #
You should bring it back. Baz Luhrmann showed us that Old English can still be relevant in a modern setting. How great would that be?
BabsiS on 05 Feb 2009 at 3:20 am #
Actually I’d like to share a very interesting fact. “thee” and “thou” is still used in some dialects. When I went to university I learned that in an area of the English West Midlands and in the area of Yorkshire, you can still here “thee” and “thou”.
So Early Modern / Middle English hasn’t been replaced by Modern English everywhere. Love it!
MarmaLady on 05 Feb 2009 at 1:40 pm #
I love this.
I think based on the fact that we usually only hear it in Shakespeare or religious texts actually makes one believe “thou” and “thee” to be the formal ways of speaking.
How funny that it’s totally the opposite.
Thanks John, just learned something new!
=)
Carolyn on 22 Feb 2009 at 9:00 pm #
I use thou, thine, thee and thy quite regularly. ha ha, but I’m “nerdy” like that.
Brian on 03 Mar 2009 at 12:48 pm #
I teach this to my English students when reading Shakespeare. By understanding the difference, one can know whether Gertrude is angry with Hamlet simply by paying attention to her pronoun usage. This, of course, applies to all of his plays but is quite salient in Hamlet.
John Cabrera on 03 Mar 2009 at 2:50 pm #
Haha! Awesome. I wish my English teachers had taught that. I think today’s students usually assume the antiquated Shakespearean speech is all regal. To our modern ears it certainly has a regal tone. And perhaps it’s because both monarchies and words like “thou” have faded that we think they were the same. I also think most people associate words like “thou” not as much with the people of Shakespeare’s time… as with the modern scholars of Shakespeare who actually understand it’s meaning… many of whom are very educated and cultured. But as you know, way back in the day, the majority of Shakespeare’s fans were a rowdy pop bunch.