« Esquire Magazine local history lesson | Main | MySQL & Number of days between two dates »

Northern Ireland's missing demonstrative pronoun

In the English language the demonstrative pronouns that we we have are the singular this and that, and the plural these and those. In Shakesperian times the extra one was yon, for example:

You gods that made me man, and sway in love,
That have inflamed desire in my breast
To taste the fruit of yon celestial tree,
Or die in the adventure, be my helps,
As I am son and servant to your will,
To compass such a boundless happiness!

yon celestial tree feels much warmer and more poetic than.
To taste the fruit of that celestial tree.
To taste the fruit of this celestial tree.

We are quite fortunate in Northern Ireland to still have yon and thon in regular use, and it is a demonstrative pronoun that we should nurture and cherish and use often.
For those unfamiliar with the local dialect, it's difficult to think of a suitable example to demonstrate the use, but if I was talking of a shop at the end of the road, I might say:
"You know that wee shop at the end of the road", if I was talking fondly of an old shop I used to visit in years gone by I might say:
Do you mind thon wee shop beside Grannys. Yon man that ran it was a right eejit.