English: Thou

> From:    Fior Avant <chiph@...>
> Subject: Re: You/thou (was Re: Old Norse)
>
>  Yes, indeed. In English "YOU" is assumed as
>respectful and polite as well as possible to
>addressing towards a known friend.
>  THOU has equivalents in all IE langs; like
>Port "tu" and Germ "du" and is addressed  to a
>person we know very well, such as a brother,
>mate, cousin. Besides the Bible, THOU was used
>very much in the last century in Britain. I
>have some books writen with the form THOU.
> THOU, as far as I know, is not used at derogatoring.
> That's why we say THOU towards God. He is a
>"close friend" never YOU.
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,  till a video game taught me otherwise.

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?")

I suppose I should get started on that phrasebook...

    *Muke!