ye English · revision 6641

+ English has two words spelled ye: the old plural pronoun ''you'', and an old written form of [[the]], as in ''Ye Olde Shoppe''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

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+ {{homograph|1|you (plural)}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 950|origins=ine-pro *yu-}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /jiː/^(Collins 2023)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The pronoun is [[inh|ang|ġē]], the nominative plural of þū (see [[thou]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) altered by the influence of [[m|ang|wē|t=we]] from an earlier form like [[got|𐌾𐌿𐍃|tr=jus|t=you (plural)]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It is cognate with [[osx|gi]], [[nl|gij]], [[de|ihr]], [[lt|jūs]] and [[sa|यूयम्|tr=yūyám]], from PIE [[ine-pro|*yū́|alt=*yu-|t=you (plural)]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The plural of thou: in Old English from about 725, in ''Beowulf'', in Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) MWH says it is first recorded in Aldred's interlinear gloss of the Lindisfarne Gospels, about 950.^(MW Word Histories)^(OED 1989)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English ye was also used to address one person, as a mark of respect to a superior, a parent or God, or out of politeness (from 1297).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In Old and early Middle English ye was the subject form and [[you]] the object form; the two were confused from early modern English, and the King James Bible (1611) kept the distinction carefully.^(Etymonline)^(MW Word Histories) Ye has since been replaced by you except in archaic, poetic and dialect use, as in ''I tell ye''.^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ġē.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 950 – in the Lindisfarne gloss.^(MW Word Histories)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1297 – used to one person.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1611 – ye and you kept apart in the King James Bible.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # ''(archaic or dialect)'' You, addressing two or more people: ''ye are the salt of the earth''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(dialect)'' You, addressing one person.^(Collins 2023)

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+ {{homograph|2|the}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|attested=before 1568}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ðiː/, popularly /jiː/^(Barnhart 1988)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The article is a way of writing [[the]], with ''y'' standing for the Old English letter [[thorn]] (þ),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) which in late Middle English handwriting came to look almost the same as ''y''.^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) The first printers in English, using continental type that had no þ, set ''y'' in its place.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Before 1568, in Ascham's ''The Scholemaster'' (“Ye great ones in ye Court”).^(Barnhart 1988)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was never meant to be pronounced with a ''y'' sound.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) Ye and yt, for the and that, continued in handwriting into the 18th century.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The spelling was revived in the 19th century as deliberate antiquarianism; the ''Ye Olde … Shoppe'' construction is attested by 1872 and was mocked by 1896.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1568 – ye for the, in Ascham.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1872 – Ye Olde … Shoppe.^(Etymonline)

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+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Article===

+ # ''(pseudo-archaic)'' The, used in quaintly old-fashioned names such as ''Ye Olde Tea Shoppe''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[you]]

+ * [[thou]]

+ * [[your]]

+ * [[thorn]]

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}