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Re: English: Thou

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Tuesday, June 20, 2000, 22:37
Muke Tever wrote:
> Actually I think many people, perhaps as a combination of the archaism of > "thou" and its use towards God, have reanalyzed "thou" as a _formal_ form. > I know that's what I thought
Yeah, that's definitely how's it's seen now. In Star Wars (Episode 6, I think?), Darth Vader asks the Emperor, "What is thy bidding, my master?" - definitely a reversal of the original usage!
> Also I think 'thou' /Dau/ is kind of a mouthful. Maybe it oughtta be /Du/, > to rhyme with 'you'. Or maybe I'm just used to 'gotcha'-forms. ("Gottha? > Whadja got?")
Or /D@/, which I believe is used in some English dialects. Of course, /Du/ was the Old/Middle English pronunciation, before the Great Vowel Shift diphthongized it. -- "If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God!" - Ralph Waldo Emerson "Glassín wafilái pigasyúv táv pifyániivav nadusakyáavav sussyáiyatantu wawailáv ku suslawayástantu ku usfunufilpyasváditanva wafpatilikániv wafluwáiv suttakíi wakinakatáli tiDikáufli!" - nLáf mÁldu nÍmasun ICQ: 18656696 AIM Screen-Name: NikTailor