That nice distinction between YOU and THOU
English used to have a word to express the intimate form of the second person singular - thou. This is no longer used except in religious and literary language. Thou [DaV] was the subject form, thee [Di:] the object form and thy [DaI] or thine [DaIn] was the possessive.
This article by Anna Barrie was originally published in the monthly magazine Good Housekeeping.
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I think I know why we British have earned a reputation for coldness. It is no accident that Englishmen come low on the list of the world's Greatest Lovers, and Englishmen are more renowned internationally for their achievements on horseback or cricket pitch than between scented sheets. Now while you and I may divine that oceans of tender feelings are held back by that British stiff upper lip, the average foreigner has no such born-and-bred instinct. And our language certainly gives him no clue.
To hear the English talk one might be forgiven for assuming that all our soulful experiences were lumped together on the same impersonal level. “You” says the mother to her child, the lover to his mistress, the housewife to the butcher, the judge to the convict. Cold, harsh, impersonal, keep-your-distance You. Whatever has happened to gentle, loving Thee and Thou? What tender nuances of feeling, of real or tentative intimacy are contained in those two little words. In letting them slip from our everyday language we have denuded ourselves of a whole realm of delicate minueting.
Long ago I saw a film called Friendly Persuasion, in which a Quaker family was torn apart by the American Civil War, but what stands out in my memory are the gentle love scenes between the young soldier and the girl who promises to wait for him. Listen to the music in such phrases as “I love thee” and “Thou art mine” and then compare them to the harsh, down-to-earth, speak-as-I-find “I love you. You're mine.” Given a choice, I know which form of wooing would win me.
And where would our poets have been without the lyrical thee and thou? “Shall I compare you to the summer's day…” sounds awfully plonking somehow, and I might it find hard to rhapsodise over John Donne's The Dream (“…Thou art so true that thoughts of thee suffice
To make dreams truths and fables
histories;
Enter these arms, for since thou
thought'st it best
Not to dream all my dreams, let's
act the rest…”) if Donne had been unfeeling enough to employ the second person plural. Fortunately he, and others like him knew better.
As it stands at the moment, we reserve the intimate form of address for our conversations with God and probably the only time in our lives that we employ it as human beings, one to the other, is during the marriage service. ”I, Anne, take thee, Sandy ….” Yet were we caring and innovative enough to re-establish this highly personal little pronoun in our everyday language, whole cadences of meaning and innuendo would be added to enrich the quality and tempo of our lives.
Just listen. When I screech at my child, “You are a bad, wicked boy!” he is no longer sure whether I still love him or not. But substitute “Thou are a bad, wicked boy!” and the anger is obvious, but so is the love. Similarly, between quarrelling lovers “I hate you” can pierce like a dagger whereas “I hate thee” means to say “but in truth I love thee still”.
In almost every other language, including Japanese, the second person singular is used to indicate and define the relationship between the speakers, which is a marvellous signpost to all concerned. The Italian businessman who calls his secretary “te” had better watch out if his wife is listening. In France children are universally and endearingly addressed as “tu” even by strangers.
As befits, a country which understands what the language of love is all about, the French even have a special verb tutoyer, which means “to use tu and toi”. That moment of deepening friendship or dawning love when one says to another, “Tutoyons-nous” (“Let us call each other tu”) is a tender little ceremony which we British deprive ourselves of. I wish we did not.
On the other hand, the use of the formal pronoun can be an effective chilling restraint in moments of superficial or deceptive intimacy. A German girlfriend of mine was taken to a nightclub by her visiting vice-chairman from Düsselforf but although he held her close as they danced the night away, her boss persisted in addressing her throughout as Sie (formal), not du (cozy), so that she could have no doubt that their relationship was staying on a strictly business level.
I am not quite sure at what point in our history we allowed our lovely Thee and Thou to slip into disuse, but I suspect that id was dour. Oliver Cromwell and the Levellers who drove it out, along with Queen Henrietta Maria's masques and dancing, because the Quakers who were founded at that time preserve it still. Perhaps we brought the intimate form of address back we might regain a little of that gentleness and humility of spirit for which the Friends are known today.
At a time when we are peppering our native tongue with such slanguage excerscences as dig, greaser, no way, and negatory, dost thou not agree that my two little words would counter-act with nothing but charm?'
Some example phrases with THOU:
aroint thee, witch! (Shakespeare) — прочь, ведьма!
thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour — библ. не послушествуй на друга свидетельства ложна
all happiness bechance to thee! (Shakespeare) — да сопутствует тебе удача во всём
claw me and I will claw thee —услуга за услугу; рука руку моет
shall I compare thee to a summer day? (Shakespeare) — сравню ли с летним днём твои черты?
thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house [wife] — библ. не пожелай дома [жены] ближнего своего
eftsoons I'll tell thee why — сейчас я скажу тебе причину этого
the mother who engender'd thee — породившая тебя мать
I am holier than thou — библ. я для тебя свят, я святее тебя
thou art an O without a figure, thou art nothing — ты нуль без палочки, ты ничто
thou shalt not kill — библ. не убий
thou shalt not steal — библ. не укради
be that thou know'st thou art — будь самим собой
the fault is thine, do what thou wilt with thine own — твоя вина, с себя и спрашивай
lasting shame on thee and thine — вечный позор тебе и роду твоему)
whither goest thou? — а) куда идёшь?; б) библ. камо грядеши?
nice subtle
divine guess
stiff upper lip stereotype idea of the Englishman as very unemotional
lumped together put together
minueting a minuet is an old, very slow and graceful dance.
Quaker member of a particular Christian group
wooing to woo somebody is to try to win their love
lyrical full of emotion
Shall I compare you to a summer's day - the beginning of a famous poem by William Shakespeare, who actually wrote it using thee, not you.
plonking clumsy, heavy (a plonk is the sound of something dropping)
screech shout or scream in anger
befits is suitable for
dawning beginning
dour severe
Levellers who wished to abolish social distinctions
masques dramas in verse, often with music and dancing
the Friends Quakers
peppering seasoning
slanguage excerscences slanguage is the writer's own expression: it is a combination of slang (informal and colloquial words) and language; an excerscence is an abnormal and ugly growth.
dig, greaser, no way, and negatory slang words meaning: to enjoy; a young person belonging to a group which is interested in motorcycles and rock-and-roll music - and favours haircream; not at all or never; and negative.
dost thou do you