I thought I would shift directions slightly this time and look at a change in Quaker language that has very little to do with shifts in religious thought — and which also requires a little more real linguistics to make sense of — the replacement of thou with thee as the nominative case form of the second person singular pronoun.

Probably no word is more closely associated with Quakers in the popular imagination than thee, although very few Quakers actually still use it. The fact that Quakers continued to use thee long after most of the rest of the English-speaking world abandoned it is somewhat remarkable, but what I want to focus on more particularly here is the fact that even though Quakers retained thee, they eventually dropped thou (at least in colloquial style), using thee in its place.  A related change is the loss of the traditional -est second person singular verb ending, and its replacement with what looks like the third person singular form.  The result is that in Quaker speech, one says Thee goes to meeting instead of Thou goest to meeting.

It should be recognized that nominative thee is not exclusive to Quakers, but is used in a number of regional English dialects, especially in western England.  The Oxford English Dictionary gives attestations of thee in subject position as far back as 1375, but adds the caution “the or tha unemphatic often represents both thou and thee.” The point is that in unaccented positions, the vowels in thou and thee were both reduced (probably to “schwa”) so that the pronunciation was the same — an important clue to later developments.

In fact, the only reasonably detailed proposal for explaining the Quaker shift from thou to thee that I’m aware of, by Ezra Kempton Maxfield, depends crucially on just this vowel reduction.  Maxfield first developed his analysis in an appendix to his 1920 Harvard dissertation Quakerism and English Literature, 1650–1750, later reporting it in an oral presentation to the Linguistic Society of America in 1925, and his published article ‘Quaker Thee and its History’, in American Speech 1.12.638–644 (1926).

Summarizing briefly, before the Great Vowel Shift, thou was pronounced [ðu:] (like “thoo,” with a long oo) when stressed.   Unlike our modern pronunciation [ðaʊ] with a diphthong, the older form naturally reduces to [ðə] in unstressed positions (so that thou was pronounced just like the definite article the).  This is no different from what we do nowadays with you, which reduces to [yə] (sometimes spelled “ya”) when unstressed; except in formal style or unusually careful pronunciation, a sentence like Can you go? is pronounced “Can ya go?” unless one puts special stress on you. At the time Quakers began shifting from thou to thee, Maxfield suggests, the shift from [u:] to [aʊ] may not yet have been complete, so that thou was pronounced with some intermediate diphthong which still reduced to [ə] in unstressed positions.  (A caution: Scholars differ in their estimation of when the [u:] to [aʊ] shift was completed, and most estimates put it somewhat before the use of nominative thee became popular among Quakers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  But Maxfield’s assumption that the shift was still underway is not really essential to his analysis; one can easily imagine that the pronunciation of thou as [ðə] in unstressed positions continued well after thou became fully diphthongized under stress.)

Of course [u:] is not the only vowel which reduces to [ə], and pronouns are very frequently unstressed; the result would have been considerable obscurity as to the underlying vowel in thou.  (I would add: especially to children learning to talk.)  Because thee and the were both also pronounced [ðə] when unstressed, and became [ði:] (with a long “ee” sound) under stress, it was natural to analogize and extend this pattern to other occurrences of [ðə], specifically its use as a nominative pronoun.  The result is thee in subject position.

That is the core of Maxfield’s proposal, though he himself suggests that it is too simple, and that there were probably additional factors involved, including the possible confusion of ethical datives with postverbal subjects, and a deliberate adoption by some Friends of “countrified” speech patterns.  But as an explanation of the main original impulse of the change, it seems completely plausible, and in fact not much different from the standard account of how ye was replaced by you in standard English (somewhat earlier than the Quaker replacement of thou with thee).

Maxfield’s explanation of how verbs with thee subjects came to show the same agreement marking as third person singulars is also somewhat similar: It is well-known that syllable-final t following an s is easily lost, especially if a consonant follows — just listen to people saying phrases like best friend or last call, and you will hear that the t is normally not pronounced, unless the speaker is engaging in unusually careful pronunciation or placing special emphasis on the first word.  The vowel in the old second person singular ending -est, which is schwa even in fairly careful pronunciation, naturally also drops out in fast or casual speech.  The result is that -est is reduced to -s, making it homophonous with the third person singular in all but irregular forms (such as art vs. is, etc.)  The irregular second person forms are then lost through paradigm leveling, with the result that a single set of forms serves as both second person and third person agreement marking.

The Coen brothers re-write Homer’s The Odyssey as a screwball comedy with George Clooney leading a trio of escaped convicts across America’s Depression era Deep South.

Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Matthew 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Matthew 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Matthew 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Matthew 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Matthew 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Matthew 4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Matthew 4:12 Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
Matthew 4:13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
Matthew 4:14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Matthew 4:15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
Matthew 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Matthew 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Matthew 4:20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
Matthew 4:21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
Matthew 4:22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
Matthew 4:24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
Matthew 4:25 And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

Go to HOLY BIBLE ONLINE

Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Matthew 2:3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Matthew 2:4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
Matthew 2:5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
Matthew 2:6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
Matthew 2:7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
Matthew 2:8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
Matthew 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
Matthew 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Matthew 2:12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
Matthew 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Matthew 2:14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
Matthew 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
Matthew 2:17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
Matthew 2:18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
Matthew 2:19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
Matthew 2:20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.
Matthew 2:21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
Matthew 2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
Matthew 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Go to HOLY BIBLE ONLINE

I suspect people would be less intimidated by reading the bible or attending church if the language were more approachable. I struggled with this too at first. Why do people worship God using words like thou, thine? You wouldn’t address the mailman or a coworker this way.  To be brutally honest, when I was not yet a Christian, the lingo sounded crazy to me.  It was so far beyond the realm of everyday language that it was not relatable to me. Now that I have read the Bible and understand some context, I can see the relevance in religious terms, but it is obvious to me that it poses an obsticle in spreading the Good Word.

I prefer to pray to God in a conversational tone, respectful yet familiar tone as you would address your earthly father or a long time friend. I feel more authentic to who I am and my real relationship with the Lord.  A good study Bible is important as well.  Well worth the investment, a study Bible explains the Bible in real terminology and you can read it with little more interpretation.

Hey is that software stolen?
No.
It costs so much! How did you get it?
Copying it.
I asked you if it was stolen!
I said no. It isn’t.
What?
Lol, newb.

This is the kind of conversation that would go on between me and a person that buys his software. You shouldn’t. Don’t steal from your neighbour. It’s not stealing if you give it back.

Stealing is the act of depriving one of a material.

I am not depriving anyone of anything, if I’m downloading. It’s still on the Internet. It still exists. It’s just that I have it aswell.

I seed. I give back to the community. I often download software to try out the company’s software out. Then, I would by the merchandise. Downloading is just publicity.

I am a Communist. I will live by Communist ways. I will share.

People should not make these mistakes. They beleive what they’re told by Microsoft and the UN. Corruption. As corrupt a Nick Griffin. (If that’s possble)

I wonder how people can be this stupid! Get some sense, noobs! Using software from Microsoft makes you a criminal. The use of products of an illegal organization.

Overpriced śhît. That’s what it is. You belive whatever those retards tell you. You greedy, capitalist.

Go off and work for nothing, and while your at it, make some more damn patents.

1. Your reading my post
2. Now your saying/thinking thats a stupid fact.
4. You didnt notice that I skipped 3.
5. Your checking it now.
6. Your smiling.
7. Your still reading my comment.
8. You know all you have read is true.
10. You didnt notice that I skipped 9.
11. Your checking it now.
12. You didnt notice there are only 11 facts
13. You are checking it now.

//kershovv

The Coen brothers re-write Homer’s The Odyssey as a screwball comedy with George Clooney leading a trio of escaped convicts across America’s Depression era Deep South.

So I was wondering if it is ‘uncool’ to submit two posts in one day, but technically it’s saturday(12:03 AM), so I am still cool.

^Some PICS I took while in CHI Town

Last weekend I visited Chicago for the first time and LOVED it. The windy city is beautiful(I love cities) and surprisingly clean, which is always a plus. I also loved riding the train, I felt free and adventurous on my own. WOOT

We visited my friend Meredith’s church, Christ The Savior Orthodox Parish. It was very beautiful inside. I find it interesting how some churches go for the ‘Thee, thou’ and some just say ‘You’. Either way is beautiful to me. My church goes with ‘You’ but most I visit, and the more traditional-WHAT we’re all traditional? Errr conservative?-seem to use Thee and thou. Anyone know the big controversy behind it? OR maybe there isn’t one. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Anyway it was quite beautiful along with the choir, and the coffee hour was held next door in the Priests home –which I liked. All beautiful. Man, I miss the city.

Son mi madre y mi abuela…,  mi madre y su madre…, y ambas…, a los dieciocho años…, y se están viendo en blanco y negro…, les daré el color:

El pelo de mi madre es de un castaño entre bronce y cobre…, el de mi abuela de un rojo caoba.

Los ojos de mi madre son verdes…, los de mi abuela entre amarillos y verdes agua.

La piel de ambas es muy blanca…, la de mi abuela rozaba el nácar.

Sus labios son rojos…, los de mi abuela…, exagerados…

Pongámoslas en el tiempo…

La de mi madre es de 1941.

La de mi abuela es de 1914.

Sí…, estoy hecho a la belleza…, más…, nada de lo que pueda hacer se podría ver jamás de otra manera…, y mucho menos mal…, y por lo que pueden apreciar es algo que va en mis genes.

Comentémoslas…

Hablaba ayer con mi madre por teléfono sobre estas fotografías…, y le hacía alguna broma…, y no…, no le decía que estaba de miedo porque ella lo sabe…, y si disimula…, es sólo por clase… No…, le decía que podíamos situar las diferencias…, y así le hacía notar que la abuela podría hacer sin ensayo alguno la protagonista de Titanic…, y ella…, mi madre…, podría hacer la de Gilda…, si bien con todo tipo de ensayos…, pues ella no supo más que de mi padre… Pues bien…, con esa referencia cinéfila quedan reflejados los peinados y atuendos de cada una…, y en su época…, y hasta sus distintos aires…, esos que parecen respirar cada una de las dos fotografías…

Bromeaba con mi mujer…., y le tendría que ser fácil entender que a mí ya…, y desde ayer…, sólo me apeteciesen las de dieciocho…

Historia Natural…

La fotografía de mi abuela es de pasaporte…, ya iniciada la primera guerra mundial…, sale de España para acompar a su padre al hospital más valorado entonces en Europa…, y que sólo se daba en Berlín… Creo que el viaje le llevó cinco días pues tuvo que cruzar el frente…, y así podía pasar uno o dos días en vía muerta y a la espera de orden militar… Pasó meses en Berlín…, y en ese hospital que…, por cierto…, era propiedad de un judío… Hecho que mi abuela resaltaba sólo por la rareza…, pues en España quedaban pocos…, habían sido expulsados hace siglos… Del tamaño del hospital se pueden hacer una idea por las cuarenta hermanas de la caridad que lo atendían… Y en él tuvo la fortuna de conocer al emperador…, su hijo estaba ingreado allí por herida de guerra… Su padre estaba allí por un cáncer del que no se recuperó y murió al año siguiente… Mi abuela hacía días y noches acompañada de una condesa rusa que la amenizaba con sesiones de piano… Esos meses en Berlín no hicieron que ahondar en su clase…, cosa que creo se desprende ya de esa simple fotografía de pasaporte…

Apéndice.

Puedo hacer hitoria natural de todo…, pues si todo…, todo en mí es además natural… Pero les invito…, a cuarteto…, árabes y judíos…, a entrar y desde ya en curso…, pues espero que les pase lo que a mí…, y les apetezca ya sólo vivir historia… Y se debe ya entender que mis marcos son…, como poco o mínimo…, de eternidad.

De Gonzalo.

De Gonzalo no es más que una forma de abreviar mi nombre: Gonzalo Conde Escuredo.

Tuesday night, Andie had her women’s meeting at the house, and I’m not allowed to be here. With work yet to do, I loaded up the laptop, and camera, and spent a couple of hours finishing up my work at Panera Bread, where the wi-fi is free, the food is good and reasonably priced, and they don’t care if you take up space for a while, particularly toward the end of the day. So I got the work done, buttoned up the laptop and still had an hour to kill before I could go home.

So, when you live at the beach, you go to the beach.

A nearly full moon was coming up over the ocean. Knowing I would likely have some time, I had grabbed a cigar (a guilty pleasure).

There were a couple of people jogging on the beach at 9:00 at night, and a dog walker as well. I got in the shadow of one of Jacksonville Beach’s newer condos, which actually seemed to have some people living in it, set up the camera on the beach, fired the stogie, and started playing with exposures and such.

There was a thunderstorm off to the south, but I had absolutely no luck, even on long exposures, getting the lightning. but the moon reflecting off the ocean was fantastic. Of course, the clouts and ocean were moving, which gives it all the soft-focus fuzziness.

Shooting north on the beach, though told an entirely different story. I love the colors that show up in in these exposures at night. It’s a different way to see the beach, and not one of which I take advantage nearly often enough.

Just as I was finishing the cigar, I got a text message to say that the ladies were gone, and I was allowed back into my house.

The beach has many moods. We’ve been lucky this year not see it’s angry side, at least so far. The deeper we get into October, the less likely that is, but there will be Nor’Easters this winter. Not nearly as intense as a tropical storm, so I guess we’d call that grumpy rather than angry. The beach at sunrise is serene, cool (ish) quiet, during the day, it can be crowded, hot, and nearly blinding at times. As evening comes, and the shadows of the condos stretch across the sand, it becomes cooler, and the people drift off to their houses and condos either at the beach, or back to town. The beach at night, with a moon over the ocean and the lights from the houses and condos, is back to serene.

So I suppose it was worth it to be kicked out of the house for a few hours. Not such a hardship, and it was a great excuse to be on the beach at night. I hope you’re lucky enough to get to experience it someday.

–scene–

The Coen brothers re-write Homer’s The Odyssey as a screwball comedy with George Clooney leading a trio of escaped convicts across America’s Depression era Deep South.

Links:

IMDb

Trailer

Free Torrent Download

Plot:

Loosely based on Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ the movie deals with the grotesque adventures of Everett Ulysses McGill and his companions Delmar and Pete in 1930s Mississipi. Sprung from a chain gang and trying to reach Everetts home to recover the buried loot of a bank heist they are confronted by a series of strange characters. Among them sirens, a cyclops, bank robber George ‘Babyface’ Nelson (very annoyed by that nickname), a campaigning Governor, his opponent, a KKK lynch mob, and a blind prophet, who warns the trio that “the treasure you seek shall not be the treasure you find.”

Review:

All-round funny film. The acting is not as good as it could be, and neither are some other points such as stunts, but this will surely get a couple laughs out of you. You can watch this with friends or alone, it will give you a good time.
I am very glad with the choice of George Clooney for the part he plays. He is so funny in this picture! No other actor could have done that part, apart from maybe Brad Pitt. Also, the other two leading roles are done men of who you can’t be sure they are in fact actors, or actual escaped prisoners from the 1930s.

The soundtrack is the best part of the whole film. You could watch it just for that. The best part is a song by Bob Dylan. The main characters actually perform it as part of the story, and they call themselves ‘the soggy bottom boys’.

Rating:

I rate:
* * * *

Casting: *
Acting:
Plot: 
Humor: *
Originality: *
Extra star: Great music! *

Movie Quote: “the treasure you seek shall not be the treasure you find.”

Have a happy day (: