youthe

English

Noun

youthe (countable and uncountable, plural youthes)

1. Obsolete form of youth.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ȝouthe, ȝouþe, youghte, youþe
• geogoðe, guweðe, guwuðe, ȝeoȝeðe, ȝeoȝeþæ, ȝeoȝeþe, ȝeoȝoþe, ȝeuȝeþe, ȝueþe, ȝuȝeðe, ȝuheðe, ȝuþe, ȝuweðe, iuȝeðe, youhþe (Early Middle English)
• ȝougheþ, ȝought, ȝouth, ȝoweþe, yiuth, youghe, yought, yougthe, youth, yowith, yowthe, yowuthe, yuþe (Late Middle English)
• yeȝeþe (Kent); yhouth, yhouthe (Late Middle English, Northern)

Etymology

From the oblique forms of Old English ġeoguþ ([ˈju.ɣuθ]), from Proto-West Germanic *jugunþi, from Proto-Germanic *jugunþiz; loosely equivalent to yong +‎ -the (abstract nominal suffix). Compare yongthe.

Notes on phonological development (compare droghte and douthe, which this word's development closely parallels)

Forms with /ð/ continue the consonantism of the Old English oblique forms (from Old English [ɣð]), while forms in /θ/ mostly represent final devoicing of /ð/. Unlike in droghte, these two form types predominate in Middle English; the forms with /xt/ and /xθ/ (from early syncope in the Old English nominative singular ġeoguþ, then levelling of the resulting consonantism to the oblique forms) are much rarer.

Shortening of the long vowel was regular in all variants of this word in Late Old English, either due to the trisyllabicity of inflected forms or because of the following consonant cluster; in forms with /ð/, /θ/, the long vowel reflects a regular change from /uɣ/ to /uː/, while in those with /xt/, /xθ/, it is due to lengthening before /x/. Some Middle English varieties apparently underwent a change of /juː/ to /jiu̯/; Modern English (and Scots) /juːθ/ can reflect either the changed or unchanged form. In Early Modern English, forms with a short vowel (/jʊθ/) are recorded; these may originate from shortening in youthhede. However, there is no evidence that such forms existed in Middle English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjuːð(ə)/, /ˈjuːθ(ə)/, /ˈjuxt(ə)/, /ˈjuːxt(ə)/, /ˈjuxθ(ə)/
• (with /juː/ > /jiu̯/) IPA^(key): /ˈjiu̯ð(ə)/, /ˈjiu̯θ(ə)/

Noun

youthe (uncountable)

1. Youth (part of life following childhood):
   1. (rare) The youth or childhood of an animal.
   2. (rare) The early stage of an institution or phenomenon.
2. Youth (state of being young; youngness)
3. A young person; a youth.
4. (rare) An army of young men.

Related terms

• youthhede

Descendants

• English: youth (obsolete yought)
• Middle Scots: ȝouthe, ȝouth, ȝowth, ȝewth, youth
  • Scots: youth

References

• “yǒuth, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.