历史与人物english.stackexchange.com
英语曾经有“你”的正式形式吗？（2011）
Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)
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一个 Stack Exchange 问答，探讨英语历史上是否有过正式的第二人称敬称。回答指出古英语曾用 thou/ye 区分单复数与尊卑，"you" 从 14 世纪起作为敬称逐渐取代 thou，最终成为通用形式。评论区还延伸到僧伽罗语、德语、瑞典语等语言中类似的称谓现象。
为什么经久不衰：它把一个日常语言细节背后的历史演变讲得清楚有趣，还引出多语言对比，是语言爱好者常读常新的话题。
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梳理了古英语第二人称变格体系，并澄清 Ye Olde 的 Y 其实是字母 thorn
第二人称过去的形式是：单数 thou/thee/thine/thy，复数 ye/you，分别对应主格、宾格和所有格。顺便说，"Ye Olde..." 店招里的 Ye 与此无关——排字工有时用 Y 代替古英语字母 Þ（thorn，发 th 音），所以那些店招应读作 "The Old..."。用 you 取代 thou 的做法始于 14 世纪，最初用于对尊者的敬称，后来扩展到对平辈的使用。
fsck--off查看英文原文
Second person used to be: Singular----|----Plural Thou Ye, You Thee You Thine Yours Thy Your Which correspond to the nominative, objective, and possessive cases accordingly. By the way, the "Ye" is not related to the "Ye" in store signs that say "Ye Olde...". Y was sometimes used by typographers instead of the Old English letter Þ(Thorn), which makes a "Th" sound, so those store signs should be pronounced as "The Old..." The usage of "You" instead of "Thou" began in the 14th century. It was originally used in token of respect when addressing a superior, and eventually began to be used when addressing equals. EDIT: Removed part about "you all", because some things I said were wrong and others I will have to look up.
以僧伽罗语为例说明没有通用"你"的语言如何造成日常社交难题
来自一个没有通用"你"的语言——僧伽罗语。它的书面语有统一的 you，但口语没有：你必须知道对方的身份和关系才能称呼对方。这导致一些尴尬又好笑的情况：对老板用 oya 会出问题；对上级只能反复用名字或头衔（"先生，先生要的报告我会放在先生的桌上……"）；有些老派夫妻整场对话都不用第二人称代词；年轻男性之间互称 machang（约等于 dude）；而刚认识的男性之间没有安全的称呼可选。
merkitt查看英文原文
Greetings from a speaker of a linguistic oddity that doesn't have a universal form of the word "you". My native language -- Sinhalese -- has two forms: written and spoken. The written form, which has a grammar very similar to Latin, does have a universal "you", but the spoken form, which is largely grammer-less except for tense, does not. You literally cannot address someone without knowing their status/relationship to you. This leads to some difficult and sometimes hilarious situations: - Children, family members and lovers are often addressed "oya". Using this on your boss or teacher could lead to problems. More acceptable when used by women and girls than by men. - There's no way to informally address a superior without a salutation or a name. This leads to people repeatedly using a person's name or salutation in the same sentence. E.g. "Sir, should I have that report sir asked for on sir's desk before sir leaves for sir's doctor's appointment?" - Some old fashioned couples have entire conversations (and sometimes marriages) without using second person pronouns because they don't have a single version they feel comfortable with. - Male friends of roughly equal age tend to call each other "machang" -- a term that is well known to those who have known Sri Lankans, and roughly translates to "dude". - There's no safe version of "you" that a young man can use on another that he has just met. Most risk using "machang", but could result in offense if addressing someone of higher social standing. This is solved by constructing sentences that avoid the word entirely. - Most children, especially from my generation, do not feel comfortable using second person pronouns on their parents. They just repeat "mother/father" wherever the word "you" is supposed to appear. - Sometimes the sentences are spoken with the word entirely omitted (like in Latin) -- "Can come over here?", "Did lock the door?"
指出英语 thou 与德语 du 同源，展示日耳曼语言的语音对应
这让我想起学德语时的一个有趣发现：许多英语和德语词汇因共同的日耳曼语源而有语音对应，比如德语 d 对应英语 th（die→the、drei→three、Donner→thunder），最相关的例子是 du 对应 thou。
moskie查看英文原文
This relates well to one of the fascinating things I realized while learning German: the fact that so many English and German words and sounds have phonetic connections, coming from their common Germanic ancestry. For example, the letter "d" in German corresponding to "th" in English: die/der/das -> the drei -> three Donner -> thunder Ding -> thing daher -> therefore and, most relevant to this discussion: du -> thou I'm sure this connection can be better explained than I'm able to, but it was a mini-epiphany for me while studying the language.
介绍瑞典语 du 改革：敬称 ni 被弃用，如今甚至被视为冒犯
瑞典语有 du（单数）和 ni（复数）。在 1960 年代末的 du 改革之前，ni 也用作正式单数敬称，但此后约 40 年正式形式被弃用，ni 只表复数——如今对老人用单数 ni 甚至会显得轻微冒犯。对王室成员则应以头衔用第三人称称呼。大约八十年前我注意到商店咖啡馆的年轻人又开始对顾客用单数 ni，希望这股风潮别持续下去。
nisse72查看英文原文
Swedish has du (singular) and ni (plural). Prior to the "du-reform" in the late 1960's however, ni was also used as a formal singular form, but for the last 40 or so years the formal form has been dropped, leaving ni for plural only. In fact many older people would find it mildly insulting to be addressed singular ni today. Of course there are a few exceptions, most notably when addressing members of the royal family. If you ever get to speak with one of them, the correct way is to address them by title, in third person ("would her majesty like fries with that?"). Around 8 or 10 years ago I started to notice a trend, particularly among younger people (in their late teens maybe), typically working in shops and cafes, who started once again to use singular ni with customers, but I haven't lived in Sweden for several years now and don't know if that's continued. I hope not!
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