- Y -
You
Originally, you (like its corresponding form ye) was used to address more than one person, i.e. it was the plural form and contrasted with thou (and thee) as the singular form. It then began to be used as a polite form of the singular, as an alternative to thou. Then a second change took place, and ye was gradually eliminated, you becoming the norm. Originally, ye had been used for the subject case, and you for the object case ( Crystal 2005: 307). In other words, historically speaking, you does not correspond to German du, and it does not even correspond to German ihr, it corresponds to German euch! In recent times, a new form is appearing, you all, sometimes spelt y'all, which is nearer to the pronunciation, this being a monosyllabic word (rhyming with call ). It is often generally used to refer to more than one person, in which case it would make up for the missing form which allows to distinguish between singular and plural, but, contrary to what one would expect, it is also used to refer to a single person (Crystal 2005: 449-52). To make matters more difficult, there is also the American form you guys, which is generally used to refer to more than one person, but, again contrary to what one would expect, it can include women, and is often even used to refer to several people none of whom is male. If this form is more frequently found in America, in Britain we find the traditional form youse, again theoretically used for the plural but also occasionally used for the singular. Who said that English was easy?
Younger than ever
In the well-known comedy sketch “Dinner for One”, one of the guests, Mr Winterbottom, tells the 90-year-old hostess: “You look younger than ever, love”. Mr Winterbottom does not speak English with the Standard Pronunciation. He pronounces the words younger and love not with the vowel of cut, but with the vowel of put. This pronunciation is typical of Northerly areas of England. In the final bout he tells her to drink up, using the colloquial word sup for drink , and tells her – or himself – to “sup up”, again using the vowel of put for both words. Few people realise this, as the actual wording of the dialogue is not at all important, but it is a nice example of regional variation in pronunciation. The comedy sketch, although well-known in Germany , is completely unknown in England.
