þeir

See also: their

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse þeir.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /θeiːr/
  • Homophone: þeyr
  • (colloquial) IPA(key): [ðeir].
Rhymes: -eiːr

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
singular first person second person third person
masculine feminine 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 feminine 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

† Archaic. See also honorific pronouns.

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse þeirra.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈθæi̯r(ə)/, /ˈðæi̯r(ə)/[1][2]

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
1 Used preconsonantally or before h.
2 Early or dialectal.
3 Dual 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.
4 Sometimes 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. (15 February 2011) “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
    singular first person second person reflexive third person
    masculine feminine 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
    dual first person second person reflexive
    nominative vit it, þit —
    accusative okkr ykkr sik
    dative okkr ykkr sér
    genitive okkar ykkar sín
    plural first person second person reflexive third person
    masculine feminine 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

    • ᚦᛅᛁᛦ (þaiʀ) — early Common Nordic
    • ᚦᛅᛁᚱ (þair), ᚦᛂᛁᚱ (þeir) — after merger of r and ʀ, occurring by the 800s in West Norse and late 1000s in East Norse
    • ᚦᛂᚱ (þer), ᚦᛂᛦ (þeʀ), ᚦᛁᚱ (þir), ᚦᛁᛦ (þiʀ) — after East Norse monophthongization, starting in the mid 900s in Denmark

    Accusative

    Dative

    • ᚦᛅᛁᛘ (þaim) — Common Nordic
    • ᚦᛂᛁᛘ (þeim) — after invention of stung runes
    • ᚦᛂᛘ (þem), ᚦᛁᛘ (þim) — after East Norse monophthongization

    Genitive

    • ᚦᛅᛁᚱᛅ (þaira), ᚦᛅᛁᛦᛅ (þaiʀa), ᚦᛂᛁᚱᛅ (þeira), ᚦᛂᛁᛦᛅ (þeiʀa), ᚦᛂᚱᛅ (þera), ᚦᛂᛦᛅ (þeʀa), ᚦᛁᚱᛅ (þira), ᚦᛁᛦᛅ (þiʀa)

    Descendants

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