Anyone else bugged by the misuse of the word "thee" in Amok Time (and this thread title)? First, the word should have been "thou." Second, since presumably T'Pau was trying to speak formally, it should have been "you."
What art thee saying?
- Thread starter A beaker full of death
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Well, we are dealing with an alien language. Since T'Pau was a member of Spock's family, maybe she was using an archaic familiar form that "thou/thee" would be a valid approximation for. And her use of the objective form rather than the subjective may have approximated some other quirk of Ancient High Vulcan -- maybe a superior addressing an inferior addresses him in the objective at all times, or something.
Or maybe Ensign Sturgeon in Linguistics misprogrammed the translators that week....
Or maybe Ensign Sturgeon in Linguistics misprogrammed the translators that week....
It is the difference between speaking Old High Vulcan in formal circumstances/rites versus modern Vulcan.
That's just it, though - thou and thee are familiar terms, not formal.
Maybe she's also used to speaking native Vulcan and doesn't speak English that much, so when she tried it, she got the odd word confused every now and then.
My wife came over here from Poland and has been learning English for the past two and a half years. I'm still correcting here on choice of words and pronunciation, and this is a woman who worked as a translator and already spoke four languages prior to learning English!
My wife came over here from Poland and has been learning English for the past two and a half years. I'm still correcting here on choice of words and pronunciation, and this is a woman who worked as a translator and already spoke four languages prior to learning English!
Coz "Bread and Circuses" blows?
T'Pau was dealing with Humans at least since the ENT trilogy episodes on Vulcan. I am very certain she is speaking formally because this is an important Vulcan ritual.
"Episode of the week?" I don't know what you're talking about. I posted a thread about Amok Time. What's the problem?
You're missing the point.
Well, that almost explains the accent....
Youse guys should read this interesting article on the evolving use of 'thee' and 'thou': http://www.etymonline.com/columns/thee.htm
Art thee laughing at the incredibly important member of Vulcan society, or the heavily armed men beside her 
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