[Lexicog] Re: Thou -- Indo-European Roots

[Rudolph Troike]

Scott,

   Sorry I didn't make it clear when I suggested that Shakespeare's
use of "thou" was calqued from French, that I was referring to the
verbal use only. As you note, the pronoun clearly goes back to I-E,
and is one of the standard comparisons illustrating Grimm's Law,
of the shift *t --> th (though the voicing in English and continental
Germanic confuses this), whereby I-E voiceless stops become Gmc voice-
less fricatives.

   Rudy



 
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