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--- Christophe Grandsire skrzypszy:
> Isn't "u" 2nd person of origin? I thought it was the object form of "gij",
> the original 2nd person singular (which was kept in Flemish dialects for
> instance).
That's correct, so how did it become third person, then? Well, I remember to
have read somewhere (apparently in a Middle Dutch grammar, that I don't have
around here at work) that it followed a similar pattern as in Spanish: "Uwe
Edelheid" > "U.E." > "U" > "u". In other words, its origin is the abbreviations
of the possessive pronouns "uw" (which of course belongs to "gij"/"u").
Until the last spelling reform (1996 or 1997, I don't remember), it was mostly
written as a capital; now only a smaller letter is allowed.
> And I've never heard or seen "u is" for instance. It's always "u
> bent".
No, "u is" sounds a bit old-fashioned and posh, and is used almost exclusively
by old people, but it is not incorrect. As I wrote, there is a tendency to
transform "u" from the third to the second person. The more common the verb,
the stronger the tendency.
Same thing with kunnen, willen, etc.: "u kunt"/"u kan", "u wilt"/"u wil" are
equally possible, but the third person definitely sounds more affected, and is
quickly turning into an archaism.
> "U heeft" is very rare, "u hebt" is much more common.
50-50, I would say. Personally, I use "u heeft".
> And for other verbs, the second and third person singular are identical
> anyway :) .
True :) . That probably enhances the process.
> There's only the difference when the subject pronoun is after the verb.
> When you use "je", the -t of the second person disappears, but not with "u"
> ("ga je naar Parijs?" but "gaat u naar Parijs?"). But I've always taken
> that to be a phenomenon of liaison, rather than a mark that "u" uses third
> person rather than second person.
I think rather the opposite is true: that the final "t" of the third person
disappears in front of the following "j". The same thing happens in
diminutives: no one in Holland would ever pronounce the "t" in "beetje" or
"hertje" like a real [t]; in most cases it is palatalised to such a degree that
something like [C] comes out.
Jan
=====
"Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones
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