Introducing Archaic English

Some odds and ends I have collected.

The Dawley Dictionary gives some words and phrases of English dialect they believe is disappearing.

Thou, Thee, and Archaic Grammar by A. Davies, R. Lipton, D. Richoux, et al.

“Thou”, “thee”, “thine” and “thy” are pronouns that have dropped out of the main dialects of Modern English. (p. 1)

For years people have read and learnt about Shakespeare, Byron...all these are writers and poets who have been read for years and years. Famous is their use of the words “thou”, “thy” and these are also found often in the Bible. 

Now the most terrible thing is for people to start abusing and start misusing these terms. (p. 3)

A warning, NEVER ever use “ye” in place of “the” - this is a complete misconception and misinterpretation of medieval texts in which a letter looking like “y” was used in place of þ pronounced like the “th” in “think” or “this”. (p. 4)

It seems that in virtually every instance where thee/thou is still being used – whether in dialects, liturgy, or Quakerism – it is most often used by the elders in that setting. My own hypothesis is that thee/thou will continue its progression toward obsolescence, though it will probably survive longest in liturgical environments. (p. 19)