A Guide to Speaking Archaic English

[Wallace McGreggor]

Compiled by my lady Saraquael, repost from the old world

Speaking Archaic English is not hard, once ye know the basics. Using thou in place of you is but the first step, and is not entirely correct in every instance, since thou is simply the subject form of the word. When it is an object, ye must use thee. Example:

Thou seem'st frightened of what I shall do to thee.
I shall do whatever thou wishest of me, as it is my pleasure to serve thee.

Ye is the plural of thou. Example:

Ye gods!
All ye people here today...

(Never say ye olde... in a dialogue. In that instance, the word means the and is in fact pronounced the. It was only used in writing, as a way to shorten the word, and was never pronounced aloud as ye.)

Also, notice the conjugation of the verbs. This must also change, but fortunately for us, only for thou and he/she/it.

Generally (although there are always exceptions), the rule is to add -est or -'st to the end of any verb used with thou, and add -eth to the end of any verb used with he, she, or it.

Examples:

Thou hast
Thou dost
Thou wilt
Thou walkest
Thou shalt
Thou art
Thou runnest
Thou thinkest

He/she/it walketh
He/she/it is
He/she/it runneth
He/she/it thinketh
He/she/it doth

My cup [it] runneth over.

Thy and thine/thyne mean your. Thy is used when the word following it begins with a consonant. Example:

Thy book.
Thy handmaiden.
What is thy bidding, my master?

Thine is used when the word following it begins with a vowel. Example:

Thine artifact is exquisite.
I appreciate thine understanding of these events.

My and mine are used the same way. Example:

My horses are fatigued.
Mine own brother hath betrayed me.

(Note: this is the exact same rule used when deciding whether to use a or an in a sentence: a book, an artifact, an understanding, etc.)

Thine is also to be used in the place of yours. Example:

My wine cellars are superior to thine.
This sword of thine is magnificent.
Best wishes to thee and thine.

To conjugate "I have"

I have
Thou hast
he/she/it hath
they hath
ye have (ye've)

Most of this is from my memory, but here is a site that will also help:

http://www.geocities.com/fvlmen151/archaic

I hope this serves to help ye write realistically in the tales here. If any of ye have questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

[Wallace McGreggor]

"Verily I say to thee, practice thou thine English, and thou wilt impress thy friends and neighbors, who wilt acclaim thee wise and noble. But err, and it were a disaster, for they will think thee a prating knave!"

So they write at the fair page thou recommendest, and sith their place is worthwhile and inspiring -- let me start gathering more useful archaic vocabulary herebelow.

Please post thy finds below or, if thou so hast the power, insert them in alphabetic order. Thank thee.

***
benison (noun) -- a spoken blessing
beshrew (verb) -- wish harm upon; put a curse on

fain -- "to want to." "I fain would lie down."

gyves -- A shackle or fetter, especially for the leg, to shackle or fetter

hither -- "to here." "Come hither!"
holpen -- "help," used only after auxiliary verbs. "Wilst thou holpen me?"

irk (verb) -- irritate or vex

meliketh -- "I like it." "Meliketh this book."
meseemeth -- "It seems to me." "Meseemeth strange."

nany -- "no one." "Nany goeth not wither I go." (Note the double negative: perfectly permissible)
nill -- "to not want to." "I nill go with thee."

per·ad·ven·ture (adv.) -- perhaps; perchance, by chance; perhaps; it may be; if; supposing
per·ad·ven·ture (n.) -- chance or uncertainty; doubt
Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city. --Gen. xviii. 24.
per·chance (adv.) -- perhaps; possibly, by chance; perhaps; peradventure, through chance, "To sleep, perchance to dream.."
prate (v.) -- to talk much and to little purpose; to be loquacious; to speak foolishly; to babble.
prate (n.) -- Empty, foolish, or trivial talk; idle chatter
prater (n.) -- (babbler)
prithee (interj.) - A corruption of pray thee; as, I prithee; generally used without I.

quotha (interj.) -- Indeed; forsooth

sirrah (noun) - contemptuous term of address to an inferior man or boy; often used in anger
sith (conj.) - since.
sith (prep., adv., & conj.) -- since; afterwards; seeing that
staunch (adj) -- firm and steadfast; true, strong or substantial construction or constitution
swik -- "stop." "Swik thou!"

thither -- "from there." "He cometh thither."

whence -- "from where." "Whence goeth he?"
whither -- "to where." "Whither goest thou?"
will-he-nill-he -- "whether one wants it or not." "It wilt rain, will-he-nill-he."

yare (adj; yarer, yarest) -- ready, brisk, or eager
yarely (adv) -- readily or eagerly
yclept -- "named." "I am yclept William."

valuable Links
The Dark Realms Archaic English glossary

[Wallace McGreggor]

The Easy, Simple Trick for getting Thee and Thou Right

As you may have guessed on your own, there is a very simple and easy trick which you can use to see whether 'thee' or 'thou' is correct: Since "thee" is exactly parallel to "me", and "thou" is exactly parallel to "I", you can check by temporarily switching "I/me" for the "you"s in the sentence. Then, put "thou" in for "I" and "thee" in for "me".
For example, suppose my archaic character wants to say something like the following:

When you didst come upon the castle, the eagle-eyed guards did see you.
Using the Trick, we'll make it about "me". We get
When I did come upon the castle, the eagle-eyed guards did see me.
Now, putting in "thee" for "me" and "thou" for "I", the result is
When thou didst come upon the castle, the eagle-eyed guards did see thee.

Source: Greffindel's Guide To Archaic English Grammar
NOTE: no animals were harmed in the creation of this page.