''Prithee'' is an
archaic English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
interjection
An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling or reaction. It is a diverse category, encompassing many different parts of speech, such as exclamations ''(ouch!'', ''wow!''), curse ...
formed from a
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
of the phrase ''pray thee'' (
ask you
o, which was initially an exclamation of
contempt
Contempt is a pattern of attitudes and behaviour, often towards an individual or a group, but sometimes towards an ideology, which has the characteristics of disgust and anger.
The word originated in 1393 in Old French contempt, contemps, ...
used to indicate a subject's triviality. The earliest recorded appearance of the word ''prithee'' listed in the
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
is from 1577, while it is most commonly found in works from the seventeenth century. The contraction is a form of
indirect request that has disappeared from the language.
''Prithee'' is the most widely known example of second
person
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, ...
object
Object may refer to:
General meanings
* Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept
** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place
** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter
* Goal, an ...
enclitics
In morphology and syntax, a clitic (, backformed from Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a w ...
.
Linguists
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
consider it to have been the final step in the
grammaticalisation
In historical linguistics, grammaticalization (also known as grammatization or grammaticization) is a process of language change by which words representing objects and actions (i.e. nouns and verbs) become grammatical markers (such as affixes or p ...
of the verb ''pray''. The eventual use of ''prithee'' outside the ''thee''/''
thou
The word ''thou'' is a second-person singular pronoun in English. It is now largely archaic, having been replaced in most contexts by the word ''you'', although it remains in use in parts of Northern England and in Scots (). ''Thou'' is the ...
'' usage signalled its transition into a
discourse particle
A discourse marker is a word or a phrase that plays a role in managing the flow and structure of discourse. Since their main function is at the level of discourse (sequences of utterances) rather than at the level of utterances or sentences, disco ...
.
There has been extensive scholarship investigating the difference in usage of ''prithee'' as opposed to ''pray you'', both in terms of
politeness
Politeness is the practical application of good manners or etiquette so as not to offend others. It is a culturally defined phenomenon, and therefore what is considered polite in one culture can sometimes be quite rude or simply eccentric in ano ...
and grammaticalisation. Because ''prithee'' eventually came to be used in the same context with the word ''you'', it is considered to have developed into a monomorpheme. ''Prithee'' was almost always used as a
parenthesis
A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...
in order to introduce indirect questions and requests.
''Prithee'' and ''pray you'' often coincide in
Early Modern English
Early Modern English or Early New English (sometimes abbreviated EModE, EMnE, or ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transition from Middle E ...
texts, and the difference between the two terms has been debated by scholars. Scholars such as
Roger Brown and
Albert Gilman have suggested that ''prithee'' was an
ingroup
In sociology and social psychology, an in-group is a social group to which a person self-categorization theory, psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an out-group is a social group with which an individual does not identify. ...
indicator. Other scholars suggest that it is simply the more deferential form. The relationship between the two is complicated by the phrase ''beseech you'', which was used in the same time period and was clearly the form used most deferentially.
Although the closest
Modern English equivalent of ''prithee'' is ''please'', or "could", the two terms presume different
attitudes within the
addressee
Addressee may refer to:
* Someone to whom mail or similar things are addressed or sent
* Interlocutor (linguistics), a person to whom a conversation or dialogue is addressed
See also
* Address (disambiguation)
* Addressee honorific, linguistic ...
. While ''please'' accompanies a request addressing itself to the positive desire of the addressee, as in "if it please you," ''prithee'' accompanies a request which addresses itself to the threat of being answered in the negative, as though the request were against the addressee's
wishes. Stated otherwise, the word ''please'' suggests that the person being addressed is willing to comply with the request, whereas the word ''prithee'' suggests that he or she is not willing. This switch from stating the speaker's contrary desire to stating the speaker's wish not to impose signaled a cultural shift in the
English-speaking world
Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest languag ...
in which politeness became stated
negatively rather than positively. Wider repercussions are observable in the replacement of such phrases as "excuse me" and "pardon me," which request
understanding
Understanding is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to use concepts to model that object.
Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object o ...
or
forgiveness
Forgiveness, in a psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may initially feel victimized or wronged, goes through a change in feelings and attitude regarding a given offender, and overcomes the impact of th ...
, with "I am sorry," which instead acknowledges the speaker's
remorse
Remorse is a distressing emotion experienced by an individual who regrets actions which they have done in the past that they deem to be shameful, hurtful, or wrong. Remorse is closely allied to guilt and self-directed resentment. When a person ...
.
In the ''
Complete Works of Shakespeare
''Complete Works of William Shakespeare'' is the standard name given to any volume containing all the plays and poems of William Shakespeare. Some editions include several works that were not completely of Shakespeare's authorship (collaborativ ...
'', ''prithee'' occurs 228 times while ''pray thee'' occurs only 92 times.
References
{{Reflist
Archaic English words and phrases
Interjections
English words