Etymology 1
From Middle English ye, ȝe, from Old English ġē (“ye”), the nominative case of the second-person plural personal pronoun, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, a North-West variant of Proto-Germanic *jūz (“ye”), from Proto-Indo-European *yūs, *yū́ (“ye”), plural of *túh₂. Cognate with Scots ye (“ye”), Saterland Frisian jie, Dutch gij, ge, jij, je (“ye”), Low German ji, jie (“ye”), German ihr (“ye”), Danish and Swedish I (“ye”), Icelandic ér (“ye”). See also you.
Pronoun
ye (personal pronoun)
- (archaic outside Northern England, Cornwall, Ireland, Newfoundland) You (the people being addressed).
1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 17, page 512:My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo, / Whileſt ye in durance dwelt, ye to me gaue / A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho ; / The ſame againe if now ye liſt to haue, / The ſame is yonder Lady, whom high God did ſaue.
1671, Elisha Coles, chapter 6, in ΧΡΙΣΤΟΛΟΓΙΑ: Or, a Metrical Paraphraſe on the Hiſtory of Our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt : Dedicated to His Univerſal Church:Queſtion me then no more; whate'er ye want, / Ask in my Name, and God ſhall ſurely grant. / You've asked nothing yet for Jesus sake : / Ask and receive, and of my joyes partake.
1995, Elizabeth II, “Legal Notice 247 of 1996”, in Hong Kong Government Gazette, page B1096:Know Ye that We have declared and by these Presents do declare our Will and Pleasure as follows— […]
- (archaic) You (the singular person being addressed).
1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 23:Know ye now, Bulkington? Glimpses do ye seem to see of that mortally intolerable truth; that all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; [...]
Usage notes
Ye was originally used only for the nominative case (as the subject), and only for the second-person plural. Later, ye was used as a subject or an object, either singular or plural, which is the way that you is used today. In modern Hiberno-English usage, ye is used as a subject or an object in the plural, to contrast with you (singular).
References
- Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin,
Etymology 2
From Middle English þe. Early press typographies lacked the letter þ (“thorn”), for which the letter y was substituted due to their resemblance in blackletter hand (etymological y was for a while distinguished by a dot, ẏ). Short form yͤ continued long after the digraph th had replaced þ elsewhere.
Pronunciation
- Traditionally pronounced the same as the, but now often pronounced with the ordinary sound of ⟨y⟩: IPA(key): /jiː/
Article
ye
- (archaic, definite) The.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 1:17, column 2:Now vnto yͤ king eternal, immortall, inuiſible, the onely wiſe God, be honour and glory for euer ⁊ euer. Amen.
- 1647, The old deluder, Satan, Act. (cited in American Public School Law, K. Alexander, M. Alexander, 1995)
- It being one cheife proiect of ye ould deluder, Satan, to keepe men from the knowledge of Scriptures, as in formr times by keeping ym in an unknowne tongue, so in these lattr times by perswading from ye use of tongues, yt so at least ye true sence & meaning of ye originall might be clouded by false glosses of saint seeming deceivers, yt learning may not be buried in ye church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting or endeavors,—
- Ye Olde Medicine Shoppe (pseudoarchaic)
Etymology 3
Shortened from yes or yeah.
Etymology 4
From Russian е (je).
Noun
ye (plural yes)
- The Cyrillic letter Е, е, featured in various Slavic and Turkic languages.
Etymology
From French est (“is”), third person singular of the indicative present of être (“to be”).
Verb
ye
- Form of se used at the end of a phrase, after the predicate and the subject, in that order; to be.
- Kimoun ou ye? (“Who are you?”, literally “Who you are?”)
Noun
yè
- The name of the Latin-script letter Y/y.
See also
- (Latin-script letter names) huruf; a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, je, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, ki, er, es, te, u, ve, we, eks, ye, zet
Etymology 1
From Old English ġē, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́ (with the nominative ending added). Compare the second-person dual pronoun ȝit.
- yee, ȝe, ȝee, yeȝ, yhe, ȝhe, ge, iye, yie, ȝie, gie, hye, hie, ȝeo, geo
Pronoun
ye (accusative yow, genitive youres, youren, possessive determiner your)
- Second-person plural pronoun: ye, you (plural).
c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.), published c. 1410, Matheu 16:15, page 9r, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:iheſus ſeide to hem / but whom ſeyn ȝe me to be .·?- Jesus said to them, "But who do you say I am?"
- (formal) second-person singular pronoun: you (singular).
a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “Book II”, in Troilus and Criseyde, lines 22–28:Ȝe knowe ek that in fourme of ſpeche is chaunge / With-inne a thousand ȝeer, and wordes tho /That hadden pris now wonder nyce and ſtraunge /Us thenketh hem, and ȝet thei ſpake hem so / And ſpedde as wel in loue as men now do / Ek forto wynnen loue in ſondry ages / In ſondry londes, ſondry ben vſages […]- You also know that the form of language is in flux; / within a thousand years, words / that had currency; really weird and bizarre / they seem to us now, but they still spoke them / and accomplished as much in love as men do now. / As for winning love across ages and / across nations, there are lots of usages […]
Usage notes
The formal singular usage, following the T-V distinction, was used to address one's superiors, elders or others to whom one might wish to show politeness or respect.
Verb
ye (present participle yeyn)
- Address a single person by the use of the pronoun ye instead of thou.
- 1511, Promptorium Parvulorum (de Worde), sig. M.iiiᵛ/2
See also
More information nominative, accusative ...
|
nominative |
accusative |
dative |
genitive |
possessive |
singular |
1st-person |
I, ich, ik |
me | min mi1 | min |
2nd-person |
þou |
þe | þin þi1 | þin |
3rd-person |
m |
he | him hine2 | him | his | his hisen |
f |
sche, heo | hire heo |
hire | hire hires, hiren |
n |
hit | hit him2 | his, hit | — |
dual3 |
1st-person |
wit |
unk |
unker |
2nd-person |
ȝit |
inc |
inker |
plural |
1st-person |
we |
us, ous | oure | oure oures, ouren |
2nd-person4 |
ye |
yow | your | your youres, youren |
3rd-person |
inh. |
he | hem he2 | hem | here | here heres, heren |
bor. |
þei |
þem, þeim | þeir | þeir þeires, þeiren |
Close
Middle English personal pronouns
1Used preconsonantally or before h.
2Early or dialectal.
3Dual pronouns are only sporadically found in Early Middle English; after that, they are replaced by plural forms. There are no third-person dual forms in Middle English.
4Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
Etymology 3
Noun
yë (plural yën)
- Alternative form of eie
1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Prologues”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, lines 9–10:
Etymology 4
Article
ye
- (chiefly Northern) Alternative form of þe (“the”)
Etymology 5
Pronoun
ye
- (chiefly Northern) Alternative form of þe (“thee”)
yê (outdated, yet still used)
Etymology
From Old Leonese ye, from Latin est.
Pronunciation
- (Central/Raiano) IPA(key): /ˈje/
- (Sendinese) IPA(key): /ˈji/
Pronoun
ye
- you (2nd person singular and plural, nominative and accusative)
See also
More information personal pronoun, possessivepronoun ...
| personal pronoun | possessive pronoun | possessive determiner |
subjective | objective | reflexive |
first person | singular |
A, I, Ik | me | mysel | mine, mines | mine, my |
plural |
we | us, we | oorsel, oorsels | oors | our |
second person | singular | standard (formal) |
ye you, yow | ye you, yow | yersel yoursel | yers yours | yer your |
Insular (informal) |
thoo | thee | thysel, theesel | thines | thy, thee, thees |
plural |
ye, yese you, youse | ye, yese you, youse theer | yesels yoursels | yers yours | yer your |
third person | singular | masculine |
he, e | him, im | himsel, hissel | his, is | his, is |
feminine |
scho, she, shu | her, er | hersel | hers | her, er |
neuter |
it hit | it hit | itsel hitsel | its hits | its hits |
genderless, nonspecific (formal) |
ane | ane | – | – | ane's |
plural |
thay | thaim | thaimsel, thaimsels | thairs | thair |
Close
References
- “ye, pron., v.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 7 June 2024, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
- “3e, pron.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 7 June 2024, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.
Etymology 1
Noun
ye
- The name of the Latin-script letter Y/y.
See also
- (Latin-script letter names) harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Persian یه (ye).
Noun
ye
- Last letter of the Arabic alphabet: ي
More information ALIV, Brazilian standard ...
Close
Noun
ye
- (Caura River dialect) Alternative form of iye (“wood, tree”)