Many years ago I was on staff in a church in Northglenn Colorado. We had in our congregation a retired school teacher, Miss Dora. She was a dear believer and is prolly now with the Lord.
One day a young person asked her about the above referenced pronouns. She replied that they weren't street language when the King James Bible was translated but actually more formal terms which one would use to designate one was talking to a Royal or Superior person or to indicate what was being said has importance.
Now English is not my forte' I leave it to those who understand grammar and structure more than I do. I learnt enough to be able to converse and write fairly well.
Has anyone else ever heard or read this view on the pronouns?
Gary
I don't know. All I know is that I love all the thee's and thou's and thy's and thine's. I love the English language, I think it is one of the easiest languages to learn and understand.
As far as I know (which admittedly is not far), thee, thy, thine etc. are singular, whereas you, your etc. are plural.
Jesus used 'thee' as well as 'you' in referring to people.
(01-18-2010 07:55 AM)Katherine Wrote: [ -> ]As far as I know (which admittedly is not far), thee, thy, thine etc. are singular, whereas you, your etc. are plural.
Jesus used 'thee' as well as 'you' in referring to people.
This is the impression I've been under too: singular vs. plural.
As far as their use other than in the Bible, William Tyndale first used thee, thou, thine, in his translation of the Greek and Hebrew to English. The KJB translators did not use them in their dedication pages in the KJB, so that says they were not in common use.
As far as their language usage that follows.
Singular: Thou, Thee, Thy, (or thine)
Plural: Ye, You, Your, (or yours)
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again
Notice the change. Why? Because though Jesus was talking to Nicodemus ( thee,singular), He was referring to all men (Ye, plural) that they must be born again.
T's= singular (thee, thou, thy, thine)
Y's= plural (you, your and yours).
I just wanted to confirm the answer of "artbook1611". The difference is that of singular and plural. The example given from John chapter 3 is an excellent. It is also an example of some of the truths that are lost in the new "Bibles" by removing the "Thee's" and the "Thou's".
Our King James Bible as you all know was written in Elizabethan English. That was the purest form of English, past or present. I do cannot find where I have the exact numbers written down, but modern English has tremendously fewer words. There were far fewer words actually in common usage the street in 1611, but the difference to today is astounding! What is truly is amazing, is that anyone would think that changing the Bible to Modern English would have any resemblance to an improvement. Our topic of "Thee's" and "Thou's", should be enough to prove that in and of itself.
In foreign languages, the formal pronoun is sometimes different from the informal pronoun. For example:
In French, the singular form of 'you' is 'tu'. The plural form of 'you' is 'vous'.
Being polite, speaking with an elder I'd use the plural form of you, 'vous'.
"Parlez vous Francais?" = "Do you speak French?" The 'vous' is the polite form in this case, not plural.
So, yes, I can see what she was saying: it makes sense.
(01-15-2010 03:38 PM)Gary Wrote: [ -> ]Many years ago I was on staff in a church in Northglenn Colorado. We had in our congregation a retired school teacher, Miss Dora. She was a dear believer and is prolly now with the Lord.
One day a young person asked her about the above referenced pronouns. She replied that they weren't street language when the King James Bible was translated but actually more formal terms which one would use to designate one was talking to a Royal or Superior person or to indicate what was being said has importance.
Now English is not my forte' I leave it to those who understand grammar and structure more than I do. I learnt enough to be able to converse and write fairly well.
Has anyone else ever heard or read this view on the pronouns?
Gary
Thank you Sister. Finally someone understands what I was talking about in my OP. I was talking about it being addressed to an Elder or someone higher up the food chain than you. Amen
Gary
(03-04-2010 10:59 PM)Here Am I Wrote: [ -> ]In foreign languages, the formal pronoun is sometimes different from the informal pronoun. For example:
In French, the singular form of 'you' is 'tu'. The plural form of 'you' is 'vous'.
Being polite, speaking with an elder I'd use the plural form of you, 'vous'.
"Parlez vous Francais?" = "Do you speak French?" The 'vous' is the polite form in this case, not plural.
So, yes, I can see what she was saying: it makes sense.