Pronouncing the Word “Ye”
Traditionally, the word “ye” is pronounced like “the” or “thee,” not “yee.” The reason for this has to do with the invention of the Gutenberg printing press .
In the Medieval Ages, paper had not been invented. Instead, Medieval scholars utilized parchment, a very expensive yet longer-lasting form of paper. In order to save space on parchment, medieval writers would do one of two things when writing the word “the.” They would either write the E above the H, or they were put an accent above the word.
However, when Juanes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1400s, you couldn’t do that. This is because the printing press utilized formerly-engraved letters that could not be manipulated, only copied. To save space using the word “the” on the printing press, printers would replace the word with “ye.”
If you are like me, then this is unfortunate news, because I really enjoy using the word ”ye” when it makes the “yee” sound. But, if you are also like me, then you do not like to break grammatical rules, so, unfortunately, whenever I use the word “ye,” I am really saying “the.”