Yoïn van SpijkJul 20

The word 'ye' in names such as Ye Olde Inn ('the old inn') was originally simply pronounced 'the'.

The pronunciation with y is due to a misinterpretation of the first letter.

'Ye' originated as a second-best way of writing 'þe'. The first letter, þ, was called thorn. It was a letter for the th sound that originated in Old English.

Where did þ come from? How did it disappear? And why was it substituted by y in the word 'ye'?

Click my new infographic to read all about it:

Show threadColm DonoghueJul 20
@yvanspijk is Thou/You
Thee/ye(second person plural)
Related to this?
Show threadAaronJul 20
@ColmDonoghue @yvanspijk This is something I've wondered, too. It seems like it would have to be different, since I think the words were used back before literacy was common.
Show threadgeoff martin
@hosford42 @ColmDonoghue @yvanspijk I’m from Newfoundland, where some of us still use ‘ye’ as the plural of ‘you’. After a couple of pints, meeting friends in a bar, it would not be strange for me to ask ‘what’re ye at t’night?’
Jul 21 at 1:31pmMetatext
Show threadAaronJul 22
@ggmartin @ColmDonoghue @yvanspijk That is really cool! I didn't know it was still used at all anymore
Show threadgeoff martinJul 22

@hosford42 @ColmDonoghue @yvanspijk Yup... it's pretty normal at home, but we have lots of words that are probably 400-year old remnants of the original crowd that showed up from England.

However, this thread has made me wonder whether what I'm really saying is a variant of "thee", which I've never considered.

While I'm at it:
In Newfoundland, we have a dessert called "figgy duff", and I have LONG wondered whether the "duff" is an old pronunciation of "dough", since it rhymes with "tough"...

Show threadColm DonoghueJul 22

@ggmartin @hosford42 @yvanspijk

I've heard people from St Johns speaking and it's almost indistinguishable from a Waterford accent here in Ireland

Would the desert be dark coloured? Duff is similar to dubh, the Irish word for black/dark

Show threadgeoff martinJul 22

@ColmDonoghue It's not unusual for me to be asked if I'm originally from Ireland (I grew up just outside St. John's - but now I live in Denmark... My accent when I'm trying to speak Danish is ... atypical...

As for figgy duff, the image I have in my head from my childhood is similar to a dark Christmas cake. But a quick online search just turned up some light ones looking more like spotted dick. Interesting to learn about dubh! Thanks for that!