Ye olde: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Pseudo Early Modern English phrase}} |
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[[Image:Ye Olde Mint,1792.jpg|thumb| The [[Philadelphia Mint#First building (1792–1833)|first Philadelphia Mint]], as it appeared around 1908]] |
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"'''Ye olde'''" is a pseudo-[[Early Modern English]] phrase originally used to suggest a connection between a place or business and [[Merry England]] (or the [[medieval period]]). The term dates to 1896 or earlier;<ref name="gizmodo">{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Lauren |title="Ye Olde" Is Fake Old English (And You're Mispronouncing It Anyway) |url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/ye-olde-is-fake-old-english-and-youre-mispronouncing-1679780566 |website=Gizmodo |access-date=18 September 2019 |date=15 January 2015 |archive-date=4 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904034815/https://io9.gizmodo.com/ye-olde-is-fake-old-english-and-youre-mispronouncing-1679780566 |url-status=live }}</ref> it continues to be used today, albeit now more frequently in an ironically [[anachronistic]] and [[kitsch]] fashion.<ref name="gizmodo" /> |
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==History== |
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{{See also|English articles#Ye form|l1=English articles: ''Ye'' form}} |
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'''Ye Olde''' is a pseudo-[[Early Modern English]] [[stock phrase|stock prefix]], used [[anachronism|anachronistically]], suggestive of a [[Deep England]], [[half-timbered]] feel. |
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[[File:The Book of Margery Kempe, Chapter 18 (clip).png|thumb|"... by the grace that God put ..." (Extract from ''[[The Book of Margery Kempe|The Boke of Margery Kempe]]'')]] |
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The use of the term ''ye'' to mean "[[the]]" derives from [[Early Modern English]], in which ''the'' was written {{code|þe}}, employing the Old English letter [[Thorn (letter)|thorn]], {{angbr|þ}}. During the [[Tudor dynasty|Tudor period]], the [[scribal abbreviation]] for {{char|þe}} was {{code|þͤ}} or {{code|þᵉ}} ; here, the letter {{angle bracket|þ}} is [[Ligature (typography)|combined]] with the letter {{angle bracket|e}}.<ref>''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary'', [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ye%5B2%5D]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020032804/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ye%5B2%5D|date=2012-10-20}}<span> ye</span>[2] retrieved February 1, 2009</ref> With the arrival of [[movable type]] printing, the substitution of {{angbr|y}} for {{angbr|Þ}} became ubiquitous, leading to the common ''ye'' as in "Ye Olde Curiositie Shoppe". One major reason for this was that {{angbr|y}} existed in the [[blackletter]] types that [[William Caxton]] and his contemporaries imported from Belgium and the Netherlands, while {{angbr|Þ}} did not,<ref name=Hill>{{cite book | title= The Routledge Handbook of the English Writing System |isbn=9780367581565 |chapter=Chapter 25: Typography and the printed English text |first=Will |last=Hill |date=30 June 2020 |chapter-url=https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/703215/1/25HillFinalDV.pdf |page=6 |quote=The types used by Caxton and his contemporaries originated in Holland and Belgium, and did not provide for the continuing use of elements of the Old English alphabet such as thorn <þ>, eth <ð>, and yogh <ʒ>. The substitution of visually similar typographic forms has led to some anomalies which persist to this day in the reprinting of archaic texts and the spelling of regional words. The widely misunderstood 'ye' occurs through a habit of printer’s usage that originates in Caxton’s time, when printers would substitute the <y> (often accompanied by a superscript <e>) in place of the thorn <þ> or the eth <ð>, both of which were used to denote both the voiced and non-voiced sounds, /ð/ and /θ/ (Anderson, D. (1969) The Art of Written Forms. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, p 169)}}</ref> resulting in [[File:EME ye.svg|10px]] (yͤ) as well as y<sup>e</sup>. The connection became less obvious after the letter thorn was discontinued in favour of the [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] {{angle bracket|th}}. Today, ''ye'' is often incorrectly pronounced as the [[Ye (pronoun)|archaic pronoun of the same spelling]].<ref name="gizmodo" /> |
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A typical example would be ''Ye Olde English Pubbe'' or similar names of [[theme pubs]]. |
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The use of the term "ye" to "the" is based in the Early Modern English ([[Tudor dynasty|Tudor]] period) [[scribal abbreviation]][[File:EME ye.png|10px|]], the letter ''thorn'' ([[þ]]) with a superscript ''e''. <ref>''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary'', [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ye%5B2%5D ye<nowiki>[2]</nowiki>] retrieved February 1, 2009 </ref> |
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As ''þ'' is the [[diphthong|diphthong]] ''th'' as pronounced in the word "''there''", [[File:EME ye.png|10px|]] (''þe'') should be correctly pronounced "''the''". |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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*[[Mojibake]] |
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*[[Olde English District]] |
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*[[Sensational spelling]] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{ |
{{reflist}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/sayings.htm Rootsweb.com], Ye Olde English Sayings |
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*[http://www.viviancook.uk/Histspellings/The&YeHistExamples.html THE versus YE: historical data from English spelling 1450-1734] |
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* [http://www.englandinn.com/ Englandinn.com], Ye Olde England Inn, a mock-Tudor hotel complete with references to Dickens and warm beer. |
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[[Category:English words and phrases]] |
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[[category:Clichés]] |
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Latest revision as of 19:29, 15 October 2024
"Ye olde" is a pseudo-Early Modern English phrase originally used to suggest a connection between a place or business and Merry England (or the medieval period). The term dates to 1896 or earlier;[1] it continues to be used today, albeit now more frequently in an ironically anachronistic and kitsch fashion.[1]
History
[edit].png)
The use of the term ye to mean "the" derives from Early Modern English, in which the was written þe, employing the Old English letter thorn, ⟨þ⟩. During the Tudor period, the scribal abbreviation for þe was þͤ or þᵉ ; here, the letter ⟨þ⟩ is combined with the letter ⟨e⟩.[2] With the arrival of movable type printing, the substitution of ⟨y⟩ for ⟨Þ⟩ became ubiquitous, leading to the common ye as in "Ye Olde Curiositie Shoppe". One major reason for this was that ⟨y⟩ existed in the blackletter types that William Caxton and his contemporaries imported from Belgium and the Netherlands, while ⟨Þ⟩ did not,[3] resulting in 
(yͤ) as well as ye. The connection became less obvious after the letter thorn was discontinued in favour of the digraph ⟨th⟩. Today, ye is often incorrectly pronounced as the archaic pronoun of the same spelling.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Davis, Lauren (15 January 2015). ""Ye Olde" Is Fake Old English (And You're Mispronouncing It Anyway)". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, [1]Archived 2012-10-20 at the Wayback Machine ye[2] retrieved February 1, 2009
- ^ Hill, Will (30 June 2020). "Chapter 25: Typography and the printed English text" (PDF). The Routledge Handbook of the English Writing System. p. 6. ISBN 9780367581565.
The types used by Caxton and his contemporaries originated in Holland and Belgium, and did not provide for the continuing use of elements of the Old English alphabet such as thorn <þ>, eth <ð>, and yogh <ʒ>. The substitution of visually similar typographic forms has led to some anomalies which persist to this day in the reprinting of archaic texts and the spelling of regional words. The widely misunderstood 'ye' occurs through a habit of printer's usage that originates in Caxton's time, when printers would substitute the <y> (often accompanied by a superscript <e>) in place of the thorn <þ> or the eth <ð>, both of which were used to denote both the voiced and non-voiced sounds, /ð/ and /θ/ (Anderson, D. (1969) The Art of Written Forms. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, p 169)
External links
[edit]- Antique English: Why is 'ye' used instead of 'the' in antique English?
- THE versus YE: historical data from English spelling 1450-1734
Look up ye olde in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.