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The word ''thou'' is a second person singular pronoun in English. It is now largely archaic, having been replaced in almost all contexts by ''you''. It is used in parts of Northern England and by Scots (). ''Thou'' is the nominative form; the oblique/objective form is ''thee'' (functioning as both accusative and dative), and the possessive is ''thy'' or ''thine''. When ''thou'' is the grammatical subject of a finite verb in the indicative mood, the verb form typically ends in ''-st'', most often with the ending ''-(e)st'' (e.g., "thou goest"; "thou dost"), but in some cases just ''-t'' (e.g., "thou art"; "thou shalt"), although in some dialects of Old English (mainly in the North), this verb form ended in -s, hence the Quaker habit of using what looks like the third person form of the verb with "thee" as the subject (paralleling the usage of "you"). In Middle English, ''thou'' was sometimes abbreviated by putting a small "u" over the letter thorn: (unicode:þͧ). Originally, ''thou'' was simply the singular counterpart to the plural pronoun ''ye'', derived from an ancient Indo-European root. Following the Norman invasion of 1066, ''thou'' was used to express intimacy, familiarity or even disrespect, while another pronoun, ''you'', the oblique/objective form of ''ye'', was used for formal circumstances (see T–V distinction). In the 17th century, ''thou'' fell into disuse in the standard language, oft regarded as impolite, but persisted, sometimes in an altered form, in regional dialects of England and Scotland,〔Shorrocks, 433–438.〕 as well as in the language of such religious groups as the Society of Friends. Early English translations of the Bible used ''thou'' and never ''you'' as the nominative singular second-person pronoun, with the double effect of maintaining ''thou'' in usage and also imbuing it with an air of religious solemnity.〔 The use of the pronoun is also still present in poetry. The fact that early English translations of the Bible used the singular form of the second person in no way indicates "disrespect" and ought to not surprise. The familiar and singular form is used when speaking to God, in French (in Protestantism both in past and present, in Catholicism since the post-Vatican II reforms), German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Yiddish, Turkish, and Scottish Gaelic (all of which maintain the use of an "informal" singular form of the second person in modern speech). In addition, the translators of the King James Version of the Bible attempted to maintain the distinction found in Hebrew between singular and plural second person pronouns. As such, they used "thou" for singular, and "you" for plural; the first usage of the differing pronouns. In standard modern English, ''thou'' continues to be used only in formal religious contexts, in literature that seeks to reproduce archaic language and in certain fixed phrases such as "fare thee well". For this reason, many associate the pronoun with solemnity or formality. Many dialects have compensated for the lack of a singular/plural distinction caused by the disappearance of ''thou'' and ''ye'' through the creation of new plural pronouns or pronominals, such as ''yinz'', ''yous'' and . ''Ye'' remains common in some parts of Ireland but these examples just given vary regionally and are usually restricted to colloquial speech. ==Grammar== Because ''thou'' has passed out of common use, its traditional forms are often confused by those imitating old speech. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thou」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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