4.15.1 ELDER LANGUAGE
For those hardy few trying to speak the elder language 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
------------------
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. Ye varlets, I despise the excrescences you call speech.
Your - your, plural.
e.g. Your odor exceeds that of a pack of sweating yaks.
ACTION WORDS
------------
Let's pick a couple of action words completely at random and use them:
I kill. / We kill. NOT I killeth.
Thou killest. / Ye kill. NOT Thou killeth.
He killeth. / They kill.
Now make it an order: Kill thou! / Kill ye!
Or a question: Killest thou him? / Kill ye him?
Thou art. (meaning: you are) Thou wert. (meaning: you were)
Thou wilt. (meaning: you will) Thou shalt. (meaning: you shall)
OTHER FUN WORDS
---------------
aye - yes nay - no
anon - soon adjure - warn
hither - here thither - there
kine - cows coney - rabbit
poltroon - coward pusillanimous - cowardly
miscreant - evildoer knave - crafty, unprincipled person
fain - gladly prithee - 'would you please...?'
doom - judgement withal - in addition
veritable - true; real forsooth - indeed; truly
assay - to try an - if
mayhap - maybe/perhaps methinks - it seems to me
verily - truly; really repair (to) - go to
craven - coward boon - favour, blessing
lest - or (a threat) - "Follow, lest I become wroth!"
avaunt - away (as in, 'let us go!')
for the nonce - for the (present) occasion
yon - that (as in, 'yon tome that lieth upon the pedestal')
vouchsafe - condescendingly grant or bestow (also, deign)
zounds! - by gods wounds!
drat! - may god rot it
USEFUL FOR INSULTING
--------------------
sirrah - contemptuous for 'sir' varlet - rascal, knave
mountebank - trickster coxcomb - conceited
popinjay - vain, blabby person poltroon- coward
slubberdegullion - wretch
PRACTICE TIME
-------------
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.