3 ms·

Not the parent, but "your machine" should probably be "thy machine." "Thou compiler" should be "thy compiler." In general, mapping from 3rd to 2nd person, "he"

Not the parent, but "your machine" should probably be "thy machine." "Thou compiler" should be "thy compiler." In general, mapping from 3rd to 2nd person, "he" = "thou", "him" = "thee", and "his" = "thy." I believe "thou doth do" should just be "thou doth" but I could be mistaken about what "doth" is. :)

danblick 9y ago
Just to share something I think is fun: Modern German has separate formal and informal pronouns ("du bist" vs. "Sie sind") and verbs. English used to have them too ("thou art"/"you are"). Even though people assume "thou" is more formal, it's actually the informal/intimate version. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thou https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thou Apparently we (~Angles/Saxons) also used to have a separate tense for "a group of exactly two of you" and words like "both" (vs all) and "either" (vs any) are residual traces of this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_(grammatical_number) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_(grammatical_number)
- hardlianotion 9y ago
  I have always enjoyed the insult "I thou thee thou traitor" offered to Sir Walter Raleigh, presumably just before he was executed. There is a semi-plausible explanation of how thou died out in England https://www.quora.com/English-language-Why-did-people-stop-using-thee-thou-hath-shalt-thy-etc-in-writing https://www.quora.com/English-language-Why-did-people-stop-u... but it leaves open the question why it persists in other languages.
sevensor 9y ago
Yup, that's about the size of it. Also, "canst maketh" is wrong. "Thou canst make" is correctly conjugated. But I pick nits -- I appreciate the attempt to write about FORTRAN as if one were a 16th century scholar translating the instructions from Aramaic. I had a laugh.
jjtheblunt 9y ago
doth is 3rd person singular, so maybe dost ? not sure, have to look it up, 20+ years since I was doing this sort of thing in grad school
- maw 9y ago
  Yes, definitely thou dost.

danblick 9y ago

Just to share something I think is fun: Modern German has separate formal and informal pronouns ("du bist" vs. "Sie sind") and verbs. English used to have them too ("thou art"/"you are"). Even though people assume "thou" is more formal, it's actually the informal/intimate version. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thou https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thou Apparently we (~Angles/Saxons) also used to have a separate tense for "a group of exactly two of you" and words like "both" (vs all) and "either" (vs any) are residual traces of this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_(grammatical_number) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_(grammatical_number)

hardlianotion 9y ago
I have always enjoyed the insult "I thou thee thou traitor" offered to Sir Walter Raleigh, presumably just before he was executed. There is a semi-plausible explanation of how thou died out in England https://www.quora.com/English-language-Why-did-people-stop-using-thee-thou-hath-shalt-thy-etc-in-writing https://www.quora.com/English-language-Why-did-people-stop-u... but it leaves open the question why it persists in other languages.

sevensor 9y ago

Yup, that's about the size of it. Also, "canst maketh" is wrong. "Thou canst make" is correctly conjugated. But I pick nits -- I appreciate the attempt to write about FORTRAN as if one were a 16th century scholar translating the instructions from Aramaic. I had a laugh.

jjtheblunt 9y ago

doth is 3rd person singular, so maybe dost ? not sure, have to look it up, 20+ years since I was doing this sort of thing in grad school

maw 9y ago
Yes, definitely thou dost.