Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Why has English Lost 'Thou'? In a younger time during High School and Antioch College courses, I always thoroughly enjoyed my studies of Shakespeare's works. Also, then, I became very aware of older English. 'Why hast Thou not taken Thy shoes to the cobbler Thineself? To Thee I do ask.' (I just constructed this example.) In the 1600's, for instance, 'You' was used conventionally for the upper class. Quakers resisted, using only 'Thou' for singular and 'You' for the plural, Resulting in many arrests, because of their insulting disrespect. The story goes that William Penn, being a Quaker, founded Pennsylvania, As a refuge in the New World, where their practice could continue. Being a Quaker, Penn also founded Pennsylvania with no bloodshed-- Just agreements with the native people. (If only Israel and other new territorial establishments Could have been founded on that same model !) By the time of the Civil War, 'Thou', except for the Quakers, was rare, Especially in the new America, where most were more egalitarian, And 'You' was commonly used for everyone. Indeed, 'Thou' became most unpopular, also in England. The disappearance in England was widespread, occurring region by region. However, even today in Yorkshire, 'Tha' ('Thou') is still heard. So the use of 'Thou' suggested that the speaker was superior, And the listener was of lower or inferior class. Today, for one, the use of 'Thou'/''Thee'/'Thy' seems to be honorific, The misunderstanding being that the use of archaic language, Elevates 'regular' speech, making it more formal ! These examples are found in legal, scientific, and academic contexts; Also one encounters archaic language in historical liturgy. If a servant girl addresses a superior male as 'Thou', It is not because she is disrespectful, but rather, Because he is an older male, and is of a higher class. Another point is that English is losing its grammatical case and morphology, Resulting in less formal linguistic intercourse. (Perhaps I should stop with 'intercourse', But all know what that actually means!) Continuing! Perhaps people became infatuated with royalty, And 'Thou' was too informal and fell out of use. 'You' also conferred formality and might compliment an unknown listener? Eventually this might have just become the more formal version. The use of 'You' might have one also attempting To avoid making a 'mistake' with the listener. Perhaps, too, with verb economy in mind, By using 'Thou', the verb conjugation had to end with 'ST' : 'Why doeST Thou? Thou shouldST speak properly! Other languages did not have this 'problem'. Today, we hear 'You All' and 'Yous', when addressing a group, So 'You' switches to the singular and 'You All' is unmistakably plural. If Nora, my late wife, a linguist, could read this, written by a biologist, She would either just plain cringe, or be amazed and offer a soft compliment ! In conclusion, I remain reminiscent for somehow using 'Thou', Because it gives a softness and sense of intimacy to our speech, And without 'Thou', English has lost one wonderful means of expression. Frank Maurer 26 January 2024 1855 Hours.