4.13.5 Middle (Archaic) Achaean
For those hardy few trying to speak Middle (Archaic) Achaean properly: please
stop. Most of you have it horribly wrong! Throwing in thee and ye and the
occasional 'eth' at the end of verbs just doesn't cut it.
Now, if you're serious, here are a few tips.
WORDS ABOUT PEOPLE
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Thou - you, one person, subject of sentence.
e.g. Thou art a fool.
Thee - you, one person, object of sentence.
e.g. I throw a rotten vegetable at thee.
Thy - your, one person.
e.g. Thy face bringeth new meaning to the term 'pox.'
Thine - 'thy', before a vowel.
e.g. Thine abilities are below my scorn.
Ye - you, plural.
e.g. Varlets, I despise the excrescences ye call speech.
Your - your, plural.
e.g. Your odour surpasseth that of a pack of sweating yaks.
ACTION WORDS
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Let's pick an action word completely at random and use it:
I kill. / We kill. ** NOT I killeth.
Thou killest. / Ye kill. ** NOT Thou killeth.
He killeth. / They kill.
OTHER FUN WORDS
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aye - yes nay - no
anon - soon adjure - warn
hither - here thither - there
kine - cows coney - rabbit
doughty - fearless poltroon - coward
pusillanimous - cowardly miscreant - evildoer
knave - unprincipled fain - gladly
prithee - 'please...?' doom - judgement
withal - in addition woot - knows
veritable - true; real forsooth - indeed; truly
assay - to try an - if
certes - surely pray - please
mayhap - maybe/perhaps methinks - it seems to me
drat! - may god rot it wherefore - why
verily - truly; really repair (to) - go to
craven - coward boon - favour, blessing
thilke - the same for the nonce - for the moment
vouchsafe - grant/bestow fie - (a curse on someone)
avaunt - let's go! hight - named/called
enow - enough lest - or else
deign - condescend ("Wouldst deign to accompany me?")
yon - that (as in, 'yon tome that lieth upon the pedestal')
USEFUL FOR INSULTING
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sirrah - contemptuous for 'sir' varlet - rascal, knave
mountebank - trickster coxcomb - conceited
popinjay - vain, blabby person poltroon- coward
slubberdegullion - wretch
PRACTICE TIME
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Sirrah! I insult thee yet and anon. Let thy kine wither and thine insolence be
revealed as is meet for such a miscreant. To thy kin, varlets and popinjays
all: I pronounce doom most hideous upon ye. Come hither and I shall prove upon
your bodies the verity of my claims. Your poltroonery is but the beginning of
the infamy which shall be made known withal.