The use of each was unmarked; that is, each was used in general communication and served a mere grammatical purposes and neither connoted any unusual intent, tone, or meaning. By , both unmarked and marked uses of thee and thou , had become virtually obsolete in Standard English Denison, There are, however, several dialects which contain plural second person pronoun replacements such as you all in parts of the United States and youse in Northern England [Wales, ] and parts of Canada.
Variations in pronunciation within a given dialect could indicate whether thee or thou are stressed in a given sentence ibid. Yes — particularly within their families. It was quite common. As in other dialects, thee came to be used by many Quakers, at least in the New York State area, in both the nominative and the accusative cases [4].
Thee is supposed to be the object form of the word, and yet Quakers in my day have always used it as subject as well. Sheldon, personal communication. It is likely, however, that this use of thee in both nominative and accusative cases is a later development. Says Sheldon. They simply called a person by their name. This effectively rendered the initial intent of Quaker plain speech archaic which probably is a large contributing factor to the erosion of its use. It seems that many Quakers are no longer aware of some of the other influences leading to the initial adoption of Quaker plain speech.
One of these influences was the general respect accorded the Authorized Version of the Bible Wales, However, even with the reduced influence of the Authorized Version , says Rev. Though it could still retain a sense of intimacy — the intimacy of the Christian with Christ or God it connoted in the Authorized Version — that it once held in general use, it is more likely being used to connote the inferior status of the person addressing God.
Its tenacity and the specific uses for which it has survived suggests that some English speakers may have a lingering desire for more subtle variations in forms of pronomial address, particularly as a means of expressing some of the stronger emotions of love, respect, and intimacy. The pronoun that had previously been restricted to addressing more than one person ye or you started to see service as a singular pronoun. As a result, poor thou was downgraded, and was used primarily when referring to a person of lower social standing, such as a servant.
However, this pronoun did not disappear, as it also functioned as an indicator of familiarity or intimacy, and retained its function as a singular form of address for God in many cases in ecclesiastical writings. This is where the violence comes into our story. When this portion of our language began to shift there was a belief among many Quakers that the use of the singular you was inappropriate, on the grounds that it violated grammatical tenets, and enforced unwanted social distinctions.
One of the founders of the Quakers, George Fox, felt strongly enough about this matter that he wrote an entire book on the subject which was a bit longer than one might imagine it would be, taking up over pages , published in For Thou and Thee was a sore cut to proud flesh, and them that sought self-honour, who, though they would say it to God and Christ, would not endure to have it said to themselves. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!
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