þeir

See also: their

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse þeir.

Pronunciation

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

Pronoun

þeir m

(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.
(demonstrative pronoun):, plural of sá

Middle English

Alternative forms

þeire, þeyr, þeyre, their, theire, theyr, theyre, þer, þere, ther, there, þair, þaire, þayr, thair, thaire, thayre, þar, þare, thar, thare, þaier, thiere, þur, þeȝȝre, yeir, yar, yair, yaire, tar, teȝȝre

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse þeirra.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈθɛi̯r(ə)/, /ˈðɛi̯r(ə)/^[1]^[2]

Determiner

þeir (nominative pronoun þei)

Third-person plural genitive determiner: their^[3]

Pronoun

þeir (nominative pronoun þei)

Third-person plural possessive pronoun: theirs, of them

Descendants

English: their
Scots: thair

References

^ 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.
^ 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.
^ “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

those (nominative plural masculine demonstrative pronoun)
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

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

ᚦᛅ (þa)

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

Icelandic: þeir
Faroese: teir
Norwegian Nynorsk: dei
Jamtish: di
Elfdalian: dier
Old Swedish: þēr, the, þir, thi
- Swedish: de, (archaic) the, dhe (dialectal) di, da
Old Danish: þhe, the
- Danish: de
- Norwegian Bokmål: de
Old Gutnish: þar
- Gutnish: dair, di
→ Middle English: thei, they
- Scots: they
- English: they

[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.

[1]

[2]

[3]

			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
dual³	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
	3rd-person	bor.	þei	þem, þeim		þeir	þeir þeires, þeiren