Archaic texts can be confusing, especially when they use pronouns we don't use in the modern English language. Thy is a possessive form of thou. It means “your” and is used before a noun that begins with a consonant.
Thou, thee, thy, thine are the archaic second person singular, now replaced in all ordinary speech and writing by you, you, your and yours. Not my, no.
Thy is an old-fashioned, poetic, or religious word for `your' when you are talking to one person. Honor thy father and thy mother.
: of or relating to thee or thyself especially as possessor or agent or as object of an action. used especially in ecclesiastical or literary language and sometimes by Friends especially among themselves.
Thou = you when the subject (“Thou liketh writing.”) Thee = you when the object (“Writing liketh thee.”) Thy = your possessive form of you. (“Thy blade well serves thee.”) Thine = your possessive form of you, typically used before a noun.
Thou is the nominative form; the oblique/objective form is thee (functioning as both accusative and dative); the possessive is thy (adjective) or thine (as an adjective before a vowel or as a possessive pronoun); and the reflexive is thyself.
"Thy" is an English word that means "your" in the second person singular.
Etymology 1
From Middle English mi, my, apocopated form of min, myn, from Old English mīn (“my, mine”), from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz (“my, mine”, pron.)
(ðaʊ ) pronoun. Thou is an old-fashioned, poetic, or religious word for `you' when you are talking to only one person. It is used as the subject of a verb.
Thine and thy are analogous to your and yours of today. Thine is to be used before a vowel while thy is used before a consonant.
There is no indication in the text of any early English translations that the use of thou/thee/thy/thine signifies "informal you". That notion is a theological and interpretative one, and frankly better asked about elsewhere (SE: Christianity or SE: Biblical Hermeneutics).
According to A History of the English Language, “In the thirteenth century, the singular forms (thou, thy, and thee) were used in addressing children or persons of inferior rank, while the plural forms (ye, your, and you) began to be used as a mark of respect in addressing a superior (235).
We still see thou is some forms of modern use, such as in discussions of the “I and Thou” concept of Martin Buber's philosophy, or in colloquial phrases such as “holier-than-thou.” For the most part, at least in normal linguistic use, thou has been largely supplanted in modern times by you, although it does exist still ...
Thy is used instead of the word your: thy house, thy dog, thy book. Thine is used before words beginning with a vowel: thine apple. Ye is used instead of saying all of you: Ye all shalt come.
There are many thou-stands of cases of this character. I am not taking any "holier than thou" attitude over it. Oh that thou hadst known the things that belong unto peace. In our legislation, there is far too much of the "thou shalt not"and regrettably little of the"thou shalt".
From Middle English þi, apocopated variant of þin, from Old English þīn, from Proto-West Germanic *þīn, from Proto-Germanic *þīnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *téynos (“thy; thine”), from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“thou”). See thou.
People sometimes address a man as my man. 'Get the guy in the purple shirt. '—'All right, my man. '
a) Use of 'My'
It shows possession or ownership of the noun. It describes something that belongs to the speaker. The pronoun 'my' can be used for both singular and plural nouns. The word 'My' usually is placed before a noun.
On the other hand, mine, pronounced "min," glides easily and unemphatically on to the following vowel.
in the past, the second person singular form of the present tense of "have": thou hast (= you have)
The word thou, used in place of "you," is not used much in modern language. In fact, with its Biblical feeling, it's most often used in religious contexts. Otherwise, it might be used as slang for thousand.
The reason people stopped using thou (and thee) was that social status—whether you were considered upper class or lower class—became more fluid during this time.
my | Intermediate English
my. pronoun. /mɑɪ/ belonging to or connected with me; the possessive form of I, used before a noun: I think about my father and my mother.