þeir

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See also: their

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse þeir.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

þeir m

  1. (personal pronoun): nominative plural of the word hann meaning "he"; literally meaning "they"
    Hvernig vita þeir þetta?
    How do they know that?
    Strákar; þeir elska stelpur og stelpur elska þá.
    Boys; they love girls and girls love them.
  2. (demonstrative pronoun):, plural of sá

See also

  Icelandic personal pronouns
Icelandic personal pronouns
singular first person second person third person masculine third person feminine third person neuter
nominative ég, eg, ek† þú hann hún, hon†, hón† það, þat†
accusative mig, mik† þig, þik† hann hana það, þat†
dative mér þér honum, hánum† henni því
genitive mín þín hans hennar þess
plural first person second person third person masculine third person feminine third person neuter
nominative við þið, þit† þeir þær þau
accusative okkur ykkur þá þær þau
dative okkur ykkur þeim þeim þeim
genitive okkar ykkar þeirra þeirra þeirra

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse þeirra.

Pronunciation

Determiner

þeir (nominative pronoun þei)

  1. Third-person plural genitive determiner: their[3]

Pronoun

þeir (nominative pronoun þei)

  1. Third-person plural possessive pronoun: theirs, of them

Descendants

  • English: their
  • Scots: thair

See also

Middle English personal pronouns
nominative accusative dative genitive possessive
singular 1st-person I, ich, ik me min
mi1		 min
2nd-person þou þe þin
þi1		 þin
3rd-person m he him
hine2		 him his his
hisen
f sche, heo hire
heo 		hire hire
hires, hiren
n hit hit
him2		 his, hit —
dual3 1st-person wit unk unker
2nd-person ȝit inc inker
plural 1st-person we us, ous oure oure
oures, ouren
2nd-person4 ye yow your your
youres, youren
3rd-person inh. he hem
he2		 hem here here
heres, heren
bor. þei þem, þeim þeir þeir
þeires, þeiren

1Used preconsonantally or before h.
2Early or dialectal.
3Dual pronouns are only sporadically found in Early Middle English; after that, they are replaced by plural forms. There are no third-person dual forms in Middle English.
4Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

References

  1. ^ Brink, Daniel (1992) “Variation between <þ-> and <t-> in the Ormulum”, in Irmengard Rauch, Gerald F. Carr and Robert L. Kyes, editors, On Germanic Linguistics: Issues and Methods (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs; 68), De Gruyter Mouton, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 21-35.
  2. ^ Thurber, Beverly A. (2011 February 15) “Voicing of Initial Interdental Fricatives in Early Middle English Function Words”, in Journal of Germanic Linguistics, volume 23, number 1, Cambridge University Press, →DOI, pages 65-81.
  3. ^ “their(e,, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 4 June 2018.

Old Norse

Etymology

    From Proto-Norse *ᚦᚨᛁᛉ (*þaiʀ), from Proto-Germanic *þai (“they, those”), plural masculine of *sa (“that”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹 (þai).

    Pronoun

    þeir

    1. those (nominative plural masculine demonstrative pronoun)
    2. they (third-person nominative plural masculine personal pronoun)

    Declension

    Old Norse personal pronouns
    number first person second person reflexive third person
    case singular singular masculine singular feminine singular neuter
    nominative ek þú hann hon, hón, hǫ́n þat
    accusative mik þik sik hann hana, hána þat
    dative mér þér sér hánum, hónum, hǫ́num henni því
    genitive mín þín sín hans hennar þess
    case dual
    nominative vit it, þit
    accusative okkr ykkr sik
    dative okkr ykkr sér
    genitive okkar ykkar sín
    case plural plural masculine plural feminine plural neuter
    nominative vér ér, þér þeir þær þau
    accusative oss yðr sik þá þær þau
    dative oss yðr sér þeim þeim þeim
    genitive vár yðar, yðvar sín þeira, þeirra þeira, þeirra þeira, þeirra


    Old Norse demonstrative pronouns
    singular masculine feminine neuter
    nominative sá sú þat
    accusative þann þá þat
    dative þeim þeirri því, þí
    genitive þess þeirrar þess
    plural masculine feminine neuter
    nominative þeir þær þau
    accusative þá þær þau
    dative þeim þeim þeim
    genitive þeira, þeirra þeira, þeirra þeira, þeirra


    Alternative forms

    Nominative

    Accusative

    Dative

    Genitive

    Descendants

    Wikious
    Boobota
    Sagapedia