"You" is an unusually versatile personal pronoun; it is “used to address two or more persons, animals, or personified things” and "thus" indicates the nominative and accusative in both singular and plural. However, you has not always been the only second person English pronoun. In Old and Middle English, there were various pronouns differentiating among gender, person, case, number including dual number. By the time period of Early Modern English, the number of pronouns was restricted and - eventually - three different forms came to be used as the nominative second person pronoun: you, ye and thou (alternative spelling: thow). In general, thou was used as the singular form, whereas ye and you were used for the plural. At the beginning of Early Modern English, ye was used as the nominative second person pronoun, while you was primarily used as the correspondent accusative form. However, in the course of the Early Modern English period, you supplanted ye as the nominative but maintained its use as the accusative form as well. On the other hand, by the end of the Early Modern English time period, you expanded its use to both the singular and the plural form and has remained that way ever since (cf. Barber 1997; Görlach 1993; Nevalainen 2006).
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The use of thou and its variants in religious discourse in Early Modern English
2.1 The use of thou and its variants in Early Modern English
2.2 The Helsinki Corpus of English Texts
2.3 The use of thou and its variants in the Bible
2.4 The use of thou and its variants in sermons
2.5 A comparison of thou and its variants in the Bible and sermon texts
3. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Topics
The primary objective of this research is to examine the diachronic development and usage patterns of the second person personal pronouns you, ye, and thou within the context of Early Modern English religious discourse. By analyzing a selection of biblical and sermon texts, the study investigates the shift from a system of distinct case and number forms toward the eventual dominance of the pronoun you, while specifically looking for potential status-based address distinctions and irregularities in pronoun usage.
- Diachronic analysis of thou, ye, you, and thow.
- Application of The Helsinki Corpus of English Texts.
- Contrastive analysis between biblical texts and sermon literature.
- Investigation of sociolinguistic status distinctions in religious discourse.
- Analysis of pronoun evolution and irregularities in Early Modern English.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1 The use of thou and its variants in Early Modern English
To begin with, three different nominative second person pronouns were used in the Early Modern English time period: you, ye and thou (alternative spelling: thow).
From 1500 onwards, the usage of the nominative personal pronouns was clearly arranged: thou was used for addressing the singular, whereas ye was used for the plural. The present-day pronoun you was used – at least at the beginning of Early Modern English – as the accusative second person plural pronoun. In the following century, thou still functioned as the singular nominative pronoun, while you started to supplant ye and was therefore increasingly used for both the nominative and accusative plural. As a result, ye remained as a literary archaic variant.
By the beginning of the 18th century, the use of the singular form thou decreased and eventually became an archaism as well. On the other hand, you enlarged its use, not only for the nominative and the accusative form, but also for addressing both the singular and the plural (cf. Barber 1997: 148-157; Görlach 1993: 84-85; Nevalainen 2006: 77-80). Thus by the end of the Early Modern English time period, the classification of the personal pronouns was actually the same as it is in present English: you was (and still is) used for the singular and the plural in both the nominative and the accusative.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter defines the linguistic scope of the paper, introduces the research objectives, and presents the methodology regarding the usage of the Helsinki Corpus.
2. The use of thou and its variants in religious discourse in Early Modern English: This chapter forms the core analysis, evaluating the pronouns in religious texts across three distinct time periods within Early Modern English.
2.1 The use of thou and its variants in Early Modern English: This subsection outlines the general grammatical and sociolinguistic framework of second person pronoun usage in the period.
2.2 The Helsinki Corpus of English Texts: This subsection details the composition and selection criteria of the diachronic corpus used for the investigation.
2.3 The use of thou and its variants in the Bible: This section analyzes the frequency and function of the pronouns within biblical excerpts from the first and second time periods.
2.4 The use of thou and its variants in sermons: This section focuses on sermon texts, identifying irregularities and developments across all three Early Modern English time periods.
2.5 A comparison of thou and its variants in the Bible and sermon texts: This section synthesizes the findings to compare pronoun behaviors across the two distinct genres.
3. Conclusion: This chapter summarizes the main findings, confirming the decline of thou and ye and the rise of you as the dominant second person pronoun.
Keywords
Early Modern English, Helsinki Corpus, second person pronoun, thou, ye, you, religious discourse, Bible, sermons, linguistic evolution, diachronic linguistics, case system, sociolinguistics, archaism, pronoun usage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this paper?
The paper examines the usage and development of the second person pronouns thou, ye, and you within Early Modern English religious literature.
What are the central thematic fields?
The research covers historical pragmatics, corpus linguistics, grammatical development, and sociolinguistic aspects of pronoun address forms in religious texts.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to determine how these pronouns developed over three specific time periods (1500–1710) and whether status distinctions influenced their usage in religious contexts.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The author uses a corpus-based approach, analyzing 967 occurrences of pronouns within The Helsinki Corpus of English Texts.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The analysis compares pronoun usage in the Bible and various sermons, identifying patterns, irregularities, and the eventual expansion of the pronoun you.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include Early Modern English, Helsinki Corpus, thou, ye, you, religious discourse, and historical linguistics.
Why were the Bible and sermon texts chosen for this study?
These texts were selected because they provide a broad range of second person address, involving God, congregations, and single individuals, allowing for a comprehensive comparison.
How does the author explain the irregular usage of pronouns found in the scripts?
The author generally classifies these instances as potential translation errors or as rhetorical devices used by preachers to make the congregation feel directly addressed.
Did the author find evidence of status-based pronoun distinctions?
No, the findings indicate that status-based distinctions typically associated with these pronouns did not apply in the studied religious discourse.
What is the significance of the findings regarding the word "you"?
The findings illustrate the early development of the expansion of you, reflecting that spoken language and its usage often change more rapidly than written conventions.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Julie Dillenkofer (Autor:in), 2012, The use of "thou" and its variants in religious discourse in Early Modern English, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/305608
