Origin & Evolution of Languages

[Eduard Selleslagh]

-----Original Message-----
From: Nik Taylor <fortytwo at ufl.edu>
Date: Friday, June 18, 1999 3:55 AM

>JoatSimeon at aol.com wrote:

>> -- oddly enough, God was usually addressed in the familiar form as well.
>> You certainly wouldn't call the King "thee", though.

>True, but God is the Father, and it makes sense to address ones Father
>familiarly, Jesus himself referred to God by the familiar word "abba".

[Ed Selleslagh]

I really don't believe there is any familiarity involved here: it is simply
and willfully archaic and refers to the time when 'thou' was simply the 2nd
person sg., before nobility started using plurals as a way to give
themselves a greater weight in communication with 'lesser beings'. Our
perception is heavily influenced by centuries of the latter.

Ed.