““The use of French in the ME period had introduced what Brown and Gilman (1960) refer to as a ‘non-reciprocal power semantic’ and a ‘solidarity semantic’ into the use of the English pronouns. In essence this meant that, as in the T/V (tu/vous) distinction of the Romance languages, the thou/thee forms came to be used as a term of address to social inferiors and (ye)/you to social superiors (the non-reciprocal power semantic). At the same time, equals of the upper classes exchanged mutual V and equals of the lower classes exchanged T (Brown and Gilman, 1960: 256). Eventually and, according to the authors, very gradually, a distinction developed between the ‘T of intimacy and the V of formality’: a manifestation of use on the dimension of solidarity (ibid.: 257). Thus, those who felt socially, emotionally and/or intellectually equal (regardless of class boundaries) would address each other as thou, whereas those who did not, but who wanted to maintain a respectful but distant relationship, would use reciprocal you.””
