Re: How and why did English lose "thou"

Op 21/05/2025 om 1:11 schreef Christian Weisgerber:

On 2025-05-20, Grimble Crumble <grimblecrumble870@gmail.com> wrote:
>

In EmE, there were 2 distinct pronouns that translate to "you" in Modern
English: thou, used in the singular; and ye, used in the plural/formal
singular. This is a common distinction in other languages (Spanish, German,
French, etc.), so how come "thou" was lost?

Inflation.  A common driver of language change, too.  The plural
was used as a form of respect when addressing superiors, cf. French
"vous".  In fact, the usage may have been copied from French.
[...]

I'm pretty sure it has, in an epoch when French lifestyle and language were imitated everywhere.The same happened in Dutch: "du" was replaced by plural "ghi". In Flanders this became "gij", which served all uses of Fr. "tu" and "vous", including Biblical "thou". In Holland "gij" got stuck to Biblical use, and for the rest evolved to "jij" with its own conjugation, for singular "tu". Now there was a need for a plural, which became "jullie" (< jij lieden, you folks). And for a polite form, which became "u" (< Uwe < Uwé < U.E.= Uw Edelheid, your nobility).
Since 'standardisation' of the language was teached in Flanders, we're now in a real messing up stage of use, of gij-u(w) with jij-je forms, of gij-u with jullie-je (and zich, 3d p.!) forms, etc.
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guido wugi