Prithee English texts, and the difference between the two terms has been debated by scholars. Scholars such as Roger Brown and Albert Gilman have suggested that "prithee" was an ingroup indicator. Other scholars suggest that it is simply the more deferential form. The relationship between the two is complicated by the phrase "beseech you", which was used in the same time period and was clearly the form used most deferentially. Although the closest Modern English equivalent of "prithee" is "please", the two terms presume different attitudes within the addressee. While "please" accompanies a request addressing itself to the positive desire of
Prithee been the final step in the grammaticalisation of the verb "pray". The eventual use of "prithee" outside the "thee"/"thou" usage signalled its transition into a discourse particle. There has been extensive scholarship investigating the difference in usage of "prithee" as opposed to "pray you", both in terms of politeness and grammaticalisation. Because "prithee" eventually came to be used in the same context with the word "you", it is considered to have developed into a monomorpheme. "Prithee" was almost always used as a parenthesis in order to introduce indirect questions and requests. "Prithee" and "pray you" often coincide in Early Modern