Re: English: Thou
From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
Date: | Thursday, June 22, 2000, 2:51 |
Robert Hailman wrote:
> That's what I thought originally, but then wouldn't "you" become /jau/
> at the same time? Unless originally it was pronounced /jo/
It was /jo:/, I think. Originally, English tended to avoid written
vowels (except e) at the end of words, so a lot of final -o's were
re-written as -ow (like "know"). Also, "you" is derived from OE "eow",
so it would make sense to suppose a /jo/ or /jo:/ pronunciation from
that. "Thou" is derived from "Thû"
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