þér
Icelandic
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɛːr
Pronoun
þér
- (personal) dative singular of þú
- Hún tók þetta epli frá þér.
- She took this apple from you.
Etymology 2
From Old Norse ér; the initial þ comes from a rebracketing of ð in the second person plural verb ending (e.g. hafið ér → reinterpreted as hafið þér). The Old Norse derives from a variant of Proto-Germanic *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́.
Pronoun
þér
- (archaic, formal) plural of þú
- (dated, formal) you (the V-form in terms of T-V distinction)
- Colossians 3:9
- Ljúgið ekki hver að öðrum, því þér hafið afklæðst hinum gamla manni með gjörðum hans.
- Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.
- Ljúgið ekki hver að öðrum, því þér hafið afklæðst hinum gamla manni með gjörðum hans.
- Hvað hugsið þér?
- What do you think?
- Verið þér sælar, frú mín góð.
- Good day to you, milady.
- Colossians 3:9
Usage notes
As a formal V-form pronoun, þér can have a singular or plural referent, but is always grammatically plural, similar to Danish De, German Sie, French vous, etc. This pronoun has fallen out of everyday use, but lingers in the raw plural sense in biblical language, and finds occasional use as a V-form.
Old Norse
Etymology 1
From Proto-Norse *ᚦᛖᛉ (*þeʀ), Proto-Germanic *þiz, dative of *þū.
Pronunciation
- (12th century Icelandic) IPA(key): /ˈθeːr/
Etymology 2
From earlier ér, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, Northwest Germanic form of *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. The initial þ comes from a pervasive sandhi effect, triggered by word-final ð in the second person plural verb endings (e.g. hafið ér → reinterpreted as hafið þér).
Alternative forms
- ér
- íʀ — Old East Norse
Pronunciation
- (12th century Icelandic) IPA(key): /ˈθeːr/
Declension
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 |
References
- Byock, Jesse L. (2013) Viking Language 1: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas, →ISBN, page 373