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There's a John Wayne movie - prolly Angel and the Badman (1947) in which our injured 19th-century hero's Quaker nurse speaks what sounds like a doubly idiomatic form of English…

'Doubly idiomatic' here means she and her people use archaic 'thee' not only instead of modern 'you' but also in place of archaic 'thou…' Since they do both always and without exception, with prolly a score of instances, it's clearly not a slip.

For instance, 'thee is…' for 'thou art…' and 'thee has…' for 'thou hast…'

I'm sure there are countless examples to show this isn't about American as opposed to British English, nor about Hollywood as opposed to reality.

I first put this down to a poor script, then I allowed that isolated communities of Quakers might really use such a dialect… or might have, 150 years ago.

Just now, though, Star Trek - The Original Series, Season 2, Episode 1, Amok Time used the same odd form… odd to me, that is.

That drags me back to the same query: is Star Trek using a poor script, or copying a real dialect?

If everyone thinks this is a hiding to nothing, I apologise for taking your time.

On the other hand, does anyone know an actual dialect which really does - or did, 150 years or so ago - use 'thee' in place of archaic 'thou' as well as modern 'you', as for instance with 'thee is…' for 'thou art…' and 'thee has…' for 'thou hast…'?

Please note, I don't mind about literary fancy in any form… only whether there is - or was relatively recently - a known dialect.

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    They are copying a real dialect. Googling Quaker thee brings up various references explaining how the Society of Friends' use of thee and thou evolved into using only thee. – Kate Bunting Sep 25 '22 at 16:17
  • Thank you so much. I'm sorry I hadn't the imagination to Google 'Quaker thee' and grateful that you had!

    FYI, if anyone was saying 'thou art' doesn't show a decline, it wasn't me.

    – Robbie Goodwin Sep 26 '22 at 18:03

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