3 ms·
Yes! If I'm recalling correctly, "þ" was always pronounced "th" and was eventually replaced with the digraph "th" in print, so the definite article "þe" should
by PhasmaFelis 9y ago
Yes! If I'm recalling correctly, "þ" was always pronounced "th" and was eventually replaced with the digraph "th" in print, so the definite article "þe" should properly be pronounced and transcribed as "the".
On the other hand, the pronoun "ye" ("Judge not, lest ye be judged") actually is spelled and pronounced with a "y". English is confusing. :)
- Wildgoose 9y agoIs this the whole story though? I am a Yorkshireman (northern county in England) and we still colloquially use "thee" and "thou", (the latter more normally pronounced "tha"). "Judge not, lest thee be judged" would fit with the initial "y" being a thorn character. English orthography has retained a lot of history!
- kwhitefoot 9y agoUnless the you in question was plural. See https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thee https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thee.