Ever wonder why old places are always "Ye ____"? Why the "ye"? When did it switch to "the"? Actually, it's the reverse. It started off as "the," or rather, "þe." That weird-looking letter is a thorn, which makes the soft "th" sound, as in "thorough" (as opposed to the hard "th" sound, as in "this"). It's still used in Icelandic, but fell out of use in English several hundred years ago. It was often written in a way that made it look closer to a winn (ƿ) or yogh (both other archaic letters), which resembled something between a y and a p. As the þ fell out of use, people started thinking it was actually a y, and started pronouncing "þe curiosity shoppe" as "ye curiosity shop" rather than the proper "the curiosity shoppe." However, as the "the" pronunciation stuck around in most other forms of spoken language, "the" won out over "ye," and "ye" was relegated to themed pubs and souvenir shops.
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