Where does “you” come from?
You descends from Middle English yow, from Old English ēow, from Proto-Indo-European h₁eyHweh₂, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European túh₂, a second-person pronoun.
you (English): The people spoken, or written to, as an object;...
Definitions
- The people spoken, or written to, as an object;...
Ancestry of “you”, step by step
you traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English ȝow
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | ȝow | Alternative form of yow |
| 2 | Old English | ēowu | ewe |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | awiz | ewe; sheep in general |
| 4 | French | avis | opinion; piece of advice; notice |
| 5 | Middle French | advis | opinion |
| 6 | Dutch | advies | advice |
| 7 | Middle Dutch | avijs | — |
| 8 | Old French | avis | opinion |
| 9 | Old French | a | to; towards; belonging to |
| 10 | Latin | A | — |
| 11 | Etruscan | 𐌀 | and, also |
| 12 | Ancient Greek | ᾱ̔ | — |
| 13 | Phoenician | 𐤀 | ox; aleph; alef |
| 14 | Egyptian | 𓃾 | — |
via Middle English you
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | you | Alternative form of yow; Alternative form of þou |
| 2 | Middle English | yow | Second-person plural object pronoun: you;... |
| 3 | Old English | ēow | Wo!, Alas!; sheep |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | iwwiz | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | izwiz | accusative/dative/instrumental of *jūz |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | *jūz | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | túh₂ | you, thou |