þeir

See also: their

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse þeir.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /θeiːr/
  • Rhymes: -eiːr
  • Homophone: þeyr

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
  • IPA(key): /ˈθɛi̯r(ə)/, /ˈðɛi̯r(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 memin
mi1		min
2nd-person þou þeþin
þi1		þin
3rd-person m hehim
hine2		himhishis
hisen
f sche, heohire
heo		 hirehire
hires, hiren
n hithit
him2		his, hit—
dual3 1st-person wit unk unker
2nd-person ȝit inc inker
plural 1st-person we us, ousoureoure
oures, ouren
2nd-person4 ye yowyouryour
youres, youren
3rd-person inh. hehem
he2		hemherehere
heres, heren
bor. þei þem, þeimþeirþeir
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 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

  • 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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