Messages: 18
Language: English
eshapard (User's profile) June 6, 2015, 5:35:30 PM
orthohawk:Shouldn't that be: "Thou art correct... Dost thou wantest my cucumbers?"
Thee is correct... When I'm in this situation I usually ask "does thee want my cucumbers?"
I think adding a nice m'lord to the end would make it more polite. Dost though wantest my cucumber, m'lord?
But when offering things, I think it's generally more traditional (and polite) to use would you like, rather than do you want.
As in: Wouldst thou likest my cucumbers, m'lord?
What say ye?
orthohawk (User's profile) June 6, 2015, 6:16:23 PM
eshapard:this has been explained before. put "thee" in the search box up in the right hand corner.orthohawk:Shouldn't that be: "Thou art correct... Dost thou wantest my cucumbers?"
Thee is correct... When I'm in this situation I usually ask "does thee want my cucumbers?"
I think adding a nice m'lord to the end would make it more polite. Dost though wantest my cucumber, m'lord?
But when offering things, I think it's generally more traditional (and polite) to use would you like, rather than do you want.
As in: Wouldst thou likest my cucumbers, m'lord?
What say ye?
and no, it should be dost thou WANT my cucumbers. the infinitive was still the plain verb even back then.
eshapard (User's profile) June 6, 2015, 6:32:59 PM
orthohawk: It should be dost thou WANT my cucumbers. the infinitive was still the plain verb even back then.Thank you sir. I stand corrected on the form of want to use in that sentence. I must admit my Early Modern English is quite rusty.
Tempodivalse (User's profile) June 6, 2015, 9:59:34 PM
Is orthohawk a Friend, mayhaps?
eshapard (User's profile) June 6, 2015, 11:41:54 PM
Tempodivalse:This is not Early Modern English, but some kind of dialect which orthohawk is using. Thee in Shakespearean English (and prior) is only the oblique case, not the nominative.I was just being silly; a little lighthearted ribbing. I meant no offense.
Is orthohawk a Friend, mayhaps?
I thought thee was some kind of acronym that he was using... turns out, he really did mean thee.
Quaker-talk; learned something new today.
I also never knew thee to be anything other than oblique, but according to my dictionary, it was used in the nominative among close friends... Not sure when it acquired that usage.
orthohawk (User's profile) June 7, 2015, 2:58:46 PM
Tempodivalse:This is not Early Modern English, but some kind of dialect which orthohawk is using. Thee in Shakespearean English (and prior) is only the oblique case, not the nominative.Two ancestors were, and it's partially in honor of them that I've reverted to my evil ways
Is orthohawk a Friend, mayhaps?
I believe that when the Quakers were first formed, the pronoun forms in English (especialy in the north) were undergoing a series of changes; the subject "ye" was quickly being left behind for "you" as subject. I imagine the same thing was happening with "thou/thee" at that time. It certainly ended up that way. and FWIW the use of the -s form of the verb with it confused me for a long time before I discovered that in the dialect of Old English used in the north of England, the "thou" form of the verb actually did end with "-s" instead of "-st"
Christa627 (User's profile) June 9, 2015, 4:23:25 AM
eshapard:Haha; I grew up with the KJV, so I can speak that form of English when I feel so inclined (I even have it listed as one of my languages, in my Lernu profile ), but that isn't very often. Even though I still deeply lament the loss of three perfectly good second-person pronouns.orthohawk: It should be dost thou WANT my cucumbers. the infinitive was still the plain verb even back then.Thank you sir. I stand corrected on the form of want to use in that sentence. I must admit my Early Modern English is quite rusty.
orthohawk (User's profile) June 9, 2015, 4:32:32 AM
Christa627:well, if thee starts using them, I doubt anyone will arrest thee and throw thee in prisoneshapard:Haha; I grew up with the KJV, so I can speak that form of English when I feel so inclined (I even have it listed as one of my languages, in my Lernu profile ), but that isn't very often. Even though I still deeply lament the loss of three perfectly good second-person pronouns.orthohawk: It should be dost thou WANT my cucumbers. the infinitive was still the plain verb even back then.Thank you sir. I stand corrected on the form of want to use in that sentence. I must admit my Early Modern English is quite rusty.