Talk:Archaism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Thou

Much of the following paragraph (transferred from the article) is misleading and needs to be rewritten if it is to be included in the article:

"In English, one sure indicator of a deliberately archaic style is the contemporary use of the second person singular pronoun thou and its related case and verb forms. Ironically, the word thou fell out of English speech because it was thought abruptly colloquial, like French tu (see T-V distinction). Thou is now seen in current English usage only in literature that deliberately seeks to evoke an older style, though there are also some still-read older works that use thou, especially religious texts like the King James Bible. The word ye and its related forms also are indicative of archaism, however in spoken English it might be hard to tell the difference, especially if the speaker has an accent that seems strange to the listener."

If the article on thou is accurate, this paragraph needs to conform with what is said there if any of its content is to be restored to the article. Adrian Robson 11:48, 25 April 2006 (UTC)