You vs. thou

[Alfred001]

I know you was used when addressing social superiors and thou to inferiors (generally speaking), but I'm wondering if anyone knows when this social distinction appeared? I know the actual forms you and thou existed by the Middle English period, but I'm wondering whether this social distinction applied then or whether it only came up in Early Modern English.

[John Cuthber]

I understand it happened when the Normans invaded.

The French still use you (plural) and you (singular) to distinguish "rank".

[Alfred001]

So this social aspect of it was there already? I know the actual words were there, but I'm not sure whether this social dimension was, that you was used for superiors, or was it just a plural form?

[John Cuthber]

In some bits of England- notably in the North, thee, thy, thine, and thou still get used, correctly, as the singular.

However down South where the influence of the Norman court was stronger the people took to copying the "French" form of address.

 

Slightly ironically, the time you are most likely to hear thee and thy these days is in the Lord's prayer- referring to God who is normally considered most people's social superior.

The church didn't follow the fashion and kept the original singular.

[Roamer]

In Dutch we have the word u, pronounced slightly different from english, it's used both singular and plural and is more respectfull then jij/je(singular) and jullie(plural)

[overtone]

Plural forms are common when addressing heads of state and the like - the "royal we", used by monarchs to refer to the agency of their own opinions and actions, is familiar - and the general glide from royal to superior to everyone is natural.

 

So is the slide from from specifically plural to include singular, since it requires less information (thou needst not know the number or kinds of people directly addressed).

 

In "you" we see the combination.

 

Since it is handy to have specifically plural forms, we see "y'all" emerging, and since the advantages still exist we see "y'all" in turn becoming singular as well as plural.

 

"They" is now a gender neutral singular in English, awaiting only formal codification of usage by the grammarians.