In this comparative study, relativizers have been examined in two versions of the Bible: the King James Bible Version from 1611 and the New King James Bible Version from 1990. The hypothesis of this investigation was that, as the English language has undergone noticeable changes from the year 1611, the changes might also concern the usage of relativizers. Thus, the aim was to analyse how the use of relativizers has changed and try to find out reasons for these changes. To examine this, The Gospel According to Luke in both Bible versions was studied, because it is the longest of the 27 books of the New Testament. During this study, all the relativizers were sought out and counted. The results showed that in particular, there were remarkable discrepancies concerning the frequency of the relativizers who, which and that. In the King James Bible Version the relativizers which and that have a high frequency of occurrences, whereas the relativizer who does not appear as frequently. In the light of several examples, the usage of the relativizers was discussed and it has been found that the discrepancies depend on different factors. The most obvious difference in the usage of relativizers is that the relativizer which has both human and non-human antecedents in the King James Bible Version, whereas there is a clear distinction in the usage of who and which in the New King James Bible.

<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>Thou, Thee, Thy, Thine, Ye, You, Your, Yours: Second Person Pronouns in Two Bible Translations</p><p>In the King James Version from 1611 there are eight different forms of personal pronouns for second person: the singular forms thou, thee, thy, thine and the corresponding plural forms ye, you, your and yours. Because of linguistic changes in the English language the number of the second person pronouns has declined during the centuries. Accordingly, in the New King James Version from 1990 these eight earlier pronouns are represented by only three pronouns: you, your, yours. Therefore, the hypothesis of this study was that the disappearance of so many different pronoun forms might have caused some ambiguity. To examine this, The Gospel of Luke of both Bible versions was studied and all the second person pronouns were first classified according to their case and number (nominative/accusative/dative/genitive, singular/plural) and thereafter counted. The verses of the Gospel of Luke, where both one or several persons are addressed, were read and carefully studied. Furthermore, when necessary, interesting or relevant, comparisons were also made to two other translations: Gustav V´s Bible from 1917 and the Swedish Bible Version from 2000. The results of this study show that there are differences in the numbers of the examined pronouns. These discrepancies depend on several different factors which have been discussed. In addition, the investigation gives evidence of the fact that the references of pronouns are not always completely clear: several verses, which might be perceived erroneously, were found in the modern English Bible translation.</p>

ABSTRACT Thou, Thee, Thy, Thine, Ye, You, Your, Yours: Second Person Pronouns in Two Bible Translations In the King James Version from 1611 there are eight different forms of personal pronouns for second person: the singular forms thou, thee, thy, thine and the corresponding plural forms ye, you, your and yours. Because of linguistic changes in the English language the number of the second person pronouns has declined during the centuries. Accordingly, in the New King James Version from 1990 these eight earlier pronouns are represented by only three pronouns: you, your, yours. Therefore, the hypothesis of this study was that the disappearance of so many different pronoun forms might have caused some ambiguity. To examine this, The Gospel of Luke of both Bible versions was studied and all the second person pronouns were first classified according to their case and number (nominative/accusative/dative/genitive, singular/plural) and thereafter counted. The verses of the Gospel of Luke, where both one or several persons are addressed, were read and carefully studied. Furthermore, when necessary, interesting or relevant, comparisons were also made to two other translations: Gustav V´s Bible from 1917 and the Swedish Bible Version from 2000. The results of this study show that there are differences in the numbers of the examined pronouns. These discrepancies depend on several different factors which have been discussed. In addition, the investigation gives evidence of the fact that the references of pronouns are not always completely clear: several verses, which might be perceived erroneously, were found in the modern English Bible translation.