undir

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse undir, from Proto-Germanic *under.

Preposition

undir

  1. (motion) under [with accusative]
  2. (location) under [with dative]
    Antonym: yfir

Derived terms

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *under.

Preposition

undir

  1. under, underneath [with accusative or dative]
    Antonym: yfir

Usage notes

Whether undir takes accusative or dative, depends on the sense.

  • With the accusative case, it signifies movement towards something or someone. In other words it has an allative sense.
  • With the dative case, it signifies positioning and location somewhere. In other words it has a locative sense.

Descendants

  • Icelandic: undir
  • Faroese: undir
  • Norn: onjder, onder
  • Norwegian Bokmål: under
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: under
  • Old Swedish: undir
  • Danish: under
  • Gutnish: undar, unda, undur

Further reading

  • Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “undir”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive
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