Editing T–V distinction (section)

==== English ====
The [[Old English]] and [[Early Middle English#Early Middle English|Early Middle English]] [[grammatical person|second person]] pronouns {{lang|enm|thou}} and {{lang|enm|ye}} (with variants) were used for singular and plural reference respectively with no ''T–V'' distinction. The earliest entry in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' for ''ye'' as a ''V'' pronoun in place of the singular ''thou'' exists in a [[Middle English]] text of 1225 composed in 1200.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/231466#eid13732377 |title=ye, ''pron.'' and ''n.'' |encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |access-date=10 November 2018 |url-access=subscription |quote=''a''1225 (▸c1200) ''Vices & Virtues'' (1888) 31 (''MED''): {{lang|enm|Hwo is þat us muȝen sceawin ða gode ðe '''ȝe''' us behoteð?}}}}</ref> The usage may have started among the [[Norman French]] nobility in imitation of [[Old French]]. It made noticeable advances during the second half of the 13th century. During the 16th century, the distinction between the [[Subject (grammar)|subject]] form ''ye'' and the [[Object (grammar)|object]] form ''you'' was largely lost, leaving ''you'' as the usual ''V'' pronoun (and plural pronoun). After 1600, the use of ''ye'' in standard English outside of regional dialects was confined to literary and religious contexts or as a consciously archaic usage.<ref>"Interlude 12 : Choosing ''thou'' or ''you''" David Crystal (2004) pp. 307–310</ref>

[[David Crystal]] summarises [[Early Modern English]] usage thus:

''V'' would normally be used
* by people of lower social status to those above them
* by the upper classes when talking to each other, even if they were closely related
* as a sign of a change (contrasting with ''thou'') in the emotional temperature of an interaction

''T'' would normally be used
* by people of higher social status to those below them
* by the lower classes when talking to each other
* in addressing God or Jesus
* in talking to ghosts, witches, and other supernatural beings
* in an imaginary address to someone who was absent
* as a sign of a change (contrasting with ''you'') in the emotional temperature of an interaction<ref>Crystal (2004) p. 308</ref>

The ''T–V'' distinction was still well preserved when Shakespeare began writing at the end of the 16th century. However, other playwrights of the time made less use of ''T–V'' contrasts than Shakespeare. The infrequent use of ''T'' in popular writing earlier in the century such as the [[Paston Letters]] suggest that the distinction was already disappearing from gentle speech. In the first half of the 17th century, ''thou'' disappeared from [[Standard English]], although the ''T–V'' distinction was preserved in many regional dialects. When the [[Quakers]] began using ''thou'' again in the middle of the century, many people were still aware of the old ''T–V'' distinction and responded with derision and physical violence.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

In the 19th century, one aspect of the ''T–V'' distinction was restored to some English dialects in the form of a pronoun that expressed friendly solidarity, written as ''[[y'all]]''. Unlike earlier ''thou'', it was used primarily for plural address, and in some dialects for singular address as well.<ref name="Schneider">{{cite book |last=Schneider |first=Edgar W. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OqUBUgW_Ax8C&pg=PA284 |chapter=The English dialect heritage of the southern United States |title=Legacies of Colonial English |editor-first=Raymond |editor-last=Hickey |year=2005 |page=284|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-44238-1 }}</ref> The pronoun was first observed in the southern states of the US, although its precise origin is obscure. The pronoun spread rapidly throughout the southern states, and (to a lesser extent) other regions of the US and beyond. This pronoun is not universally accepted, and may be regarded as either nonstandard or a regionalism.<ref>"Interlude 17, Tracking a change: the case of ''y'all''" Crystal (2004) pp. 449–452</ref>

''Yous(e)'' (pron. {{IPAc-en|j|uː|z|}}, {{IPAc-en|j|ə|z|}}) as a plural is found mainly in [[English language in Northern England|(Northern) England]], [[Scottish English|Scotland]], parts of [[Hiberno-English|Ireland]], [[Australian English|Australia]], [[New Zealand English|New Zealand]], [[South African English|South Africa]], northern [[Nova Scotia]] and parts of [[Ontario]] in Canada and parts of the northeastern United States (especially areas where there was historically Irish or Italian immigration), including in [[Boston]], [[Philadelphia]], [[New York City|New York]], and scattered throughout working class communities in the American [[Rust Belt]].