segja

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse segja, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseiːja/

  Rhymes: -eiːja

  Homophone: seigja

Verb

segja (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative sagði, supine sagt)

1. (transitive, governs the dative) to say, to tell
   • Isaiah 40 (Icelandic, English)

     Heyr, einhver segir: "Kalla þú!" Og ég svara: "Hvað skal ég kalla?" "Allt hold er gras og allur yndisleikur þess sem blóm vallarins. Grasið visnar, blómin fölna, þegar Drottinn andar á þau. Sannlega, mennirnir eru gras. Grasið visnar, blómin fölna, en orð Guðs vors stendur stöðugt eilíflega."

     A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

   Ég segi söguna á eftir.

   I'll tell the story later.

   Segðu mér eitthvað skemmtilegt.

   Tell me something interesting.

Usage notes

This verb is cognate with English say, but is sometimes used in places where tell or speak would be used in English, such as:

• segja brandara ― to tell a joke

Conjugation

Derived terms

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• sigja, sea (dialectal)

Etymology

From Old Norse segja, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ-. Akin to English say.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²sɛɪɑ/, /²sɛːjɑ/
• Rhymes: -ɛɪɑ, -ɛːjɑ
• Hyphenation: seg‧ja

Verb

segja (present tense segjer, past tense sa or sagde, supine sagt, past participle sagd, present participle segjande, imperative sèg)

1. (pre-1938) to say, tell; alternative form of seia

   Kva skal du segja deim?

   What are you going to tell them?

Derived terms

• segjand
• segjande
• segjande-sogn
• segjing

References

• “segja” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *sagjaną (“to say”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to say”). Cognate with Old English secġan, Old Frisian sedza, sidza, sega, Old Saxon seggian, Old High German sagēn.

Verb

segja (singular past indicative sagði, plural past indicative sǫgðu, past participle sagðr)

1. to say, tell, declare

Conjugation

Descendants

• Icelandic: segja
• Faroese: siga
• Norwegian Nynorsk: seia, segja
• Jamtish: segi
• Elfdalian: saja
• Old Swedish: sæghia, sighia
  • Swedish: säga
• Old Danish: sæghiæ, sighæ
  • Danish: sige
    • Norwegian Bokmål: si
  • Scanian: siğa, sæğa
• Old Gutnish: segia
  • Gutnish: säge

References

• “segja”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press