The first known use of singular “they” is so old that not only does it pre-date singular “you,” it wasn’t even spelled with a “th”
When William and the Werewolf, in 1375 CE, used singular “they,” it was spelled with a Thorn
When William and the Werewolf, in 1375 CE, used singular “they,” it was spelled with a Thorn
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It took ONE Google search to prove them wrong.....
I'm no expert, but I know that matters in some linguistic contexts and am wondering if it's the explanation here.
https://www.oed.com/discover/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/
https://archive.org/details/romanceofwilliam00guiluoft/page/74/mode/1up
“I think it’s completely grammatically appropriate, but thou hast thine own opinions, I suppose…”
When using the singular they, do we say, "they is going to the faire" it "they are"?
Thank you
(I can at least get my head around "sounds wrong")
singular they, didn't use singular you, and the first edition didn't even use the letter J. Even for James*.
* Though they did rename the New Testament "Jacob"s to "James"s, which was annoying of them.
And why did we get rid of the Thorn? Wouldn't everything be simpler?
Totally get reading random bits; it's fascinating to simply browse it.
Bring back the Thorn! 😁
https://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/early-modern-english#printing-press-and-standardization
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55332395-highly-irregular?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_11
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31904/12-letters-didnt-make-alphabet
Thanks.
Though I still argue that Thorn would be much easier. HA!
And thank you for increasing my awareness.
So much to learn. Linguistics is fascinating.
"Thou hast an appointment with the physician on the morrow?"
"Verily."
"I shall accompany thee."
You do it all the time for singular "you". Practice and willingness will take you far.
Best to you and your kiddo, sounds like they have a great parent who is trying and that is so, so, so awesome.
Also you need "themself".
(im the only one in the family who retains a southern accent & like to lay it on thick when i travel to north to visit)
Also an aside: Thorn and eth are wonderful symbols we should put back into English spellings! (Today's pronunciation of they would be with eth, but still I want both back!)
We might say, 'each of the men took a different route, following his own instructions. They arrived at the rendezvous the next morning.' the fact you couldn't render this in the singular without gender contradiction proves the point.
What do they want?
They want everyone to stop pretending singular they isn't correct English :)
I imagine the etymology of this is because the gender of "somebody" can't be determined in that situation.
Hey somebody left their backpack on that bench! Can you call the office and ask if they will reschedule you? When we hire the new person they will get this cubicle.
(incidentally, "xe" and "hir" feel foreign to my ear, just as words, which probably doesn't help anything in familiarizing people with them)
All the medieval “ye” and such is actually pronounced “the”
For some reason history replaced the thorn (pronounced like “th”) with the letter Y
(thanks, RobWords)
TWO, we only want TWO things; to have our... never mind.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Singular 'they''s older
Than singular 'you'
Like if "I" could be used to refer to yourself or the person you're speaking to.
The more you know.
BTW: did you know there's a pronouns lableler (and it includes 'fae')
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:wkoofae5uytcm7bjncmev6n6
In this case the “Ye” should be pronounced “The”.
FFS if you're going to get hung up over the extra E in a pre codified old english spelling, this might not be the social media for you.
He'd probably like it.
Now, King George III... I think even he would think pineapples on pizza was an excess. 🤣
On toppe of the brede was not saltede porke and a mofte ftrange fuite.
English can just appear fully formed at any historical period, in any real or fictional universe.
They're also heavily inspired by British hooliganism and anti-intellectualism, so this all tracks!
Singular "English" may appear spontaneously = whimsical scifi
Plural "The English" may appear spontaneously = cosmic horror
And it was for many peoples around the world
The full text reads, according to the OED translation:
Each man (singular) hurried . . . till they (singular) drew near . . . where William and his darling were lying together
It's the fault of the French somehow isn't it? Only we are capable of such blunder.
Contemplem, o primeiro pei (não resisti dsclp) (gostei do contexto tb)
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