Modernizing Liturgical English

Modernizing Liturgical English Modernizing Liturgical English Modernizing Liturgical English By Maeve Maddox A reader writes: In church, our liturgy has traditionally used a phrase such as Thou Who sittest at the right hand of God the Father to refer to Jesus, singular. As we have changed over from using the King James Bible translation, we have also gradually changed from use of thee and thou and the est forms of the verbs in the liturgy. I believe, then, that we should be singing You Who sit at . . . but those in charge have written You Who sits at . . . It disturbs me (only slightlyI know the intended meaning regardless of the word used) every time I sing it. Am I correct or just being picky? I dont think the reader is being picky. It makes sense that if editors are going to modernize a 16th century idiom, the changes ought to reflect standard modern usage. In the year 2009, you sits is not standard usage, neither spoken nor written. The confusion with the passage quoted lies with the word who, which may be either singular or plural: The man who is sitting on the wall can see the lighthouse. The men who are sitting in the tree can also see it. In the liturgical quotation above, who refers to singular thou. Thou who sittest at the right hand of the Father translates as You who sit at the right hand of God the Father. Personally I object to changing the old verb forms in liturgical use. When a student wants the most up-to-date translation, obviously the King James Version is not the one to rely on. If encouraging religious feeling is the goal, however, I cant think of anything more beautiful and stirring than a reading from the KJV. Most of the tongue-twisters can be avoided by substituting the sound /s/ for the -eths. Thats very likely what many of the original readers of the KJV did anyway. A.C. Baugh points out (A History of the English Language), that Shakespeare used both the eth and -s forms for third-person verbs, as in this passage from A Merchant of Venice (c. 1597): The quality of mercy is not straind, It droppeth as a gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessd; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:†¦ Baugh quotes Richard Hodgess A Special Help to Orthographie (1643) in which the writer notes the disconnect between how verbs are written and how they are pronounced in ordinary speech: Howsoever wee use to Write thus, leadeth it, maketh it, noteth it, raketh it, per-fumeth it, etc. Yet in our ordinary speech (which is best to bee understood) wee say, leads it, makes it, notes it, rakes it, per-fumes it. Its refreshing to seein the 17th century, as in the 21stthe standard written dialect at odds with the standard spoken dialect. An Unexpected Question About You O Second Person Singular, Where Art Thou? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Synonyms for â€Å"Leader†Best Websites to Learn EnglishList of 50 Compliments and Nice Things to Say!