Origin & Evolution of Languages

[Rick Mc Callister]

	I've read that the use of sibh as singular formal is based on
French vous and became widespread during the Stuart dynasty. But I've also
seen this phrased as an apocryphal sounding story something along the lines
that Bonnie Prince Charlie & his French companions insisted on being
addressed as "vous", so they accomodated them by using "sibh". So the whole
French connection may be apocryphal

[snip]

>Unlike the languages mentioned, Irish has always used "tu/" for the
>singular and "sibh" for the plural, and the latter has never been a
>formal/deferential singular.  It's quite interesting, however, that
>Scottish Gaelic, as it emerged as a separate language, followed the
>more widespread European convention of using the plural pronoun
>"sibh" as a singular of respect.  My pet theory is that the Scottish
>Gaelic innovation is somehow linked to the spread of Calvanism in
>those parts, but that's just a wild guess.

[snip]