4.1 The evolution of you

In Old and early Middle English, the second person pronoun was used in the following way:

Then, in the 13th century a new development began: The plural forms began to be used as a mark of respect in addressing a superior, while the singular forms continued to be used in addressing children or persons of inferior rank (cf. Baugh & Cable 2002: 242). Thus, it was normal for a child to call his or her father you, while the father would say thou to address his child.

In the 16th century, ye had mostly been substituted by you, because both forms tended to be pronounced identically. As for addressing somebody, using thou became more and more an insult and an expression of contempt than a marker of intimacy (cf. Gramley 2012: 105-106). The trend toward the politer you-address may have been suggested by French usage in court circles and can be seen in many modern European languages. Over a short period of time, the singular forms had almost disappeared completely. Only among the Quakers did they survive until today (cf. Baugh & Cable 2002: 242).

The question that will be answered in the example study is how the gradual disuse of the singular pronouns thou, thee, thy and thine can be pictured in total numbers. Therefore, the claim of a gradually declining usage of these words over the centuries will be proven by analysing their frequency within the historical literature databases.

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