- •Pronoun. Adjective. Numerals. Adverb. (6th lectures) Adjectives
- •In general the changes in me and ne adjectives were so insignificant that you can hardly find them in books. Pronouns
- •Possessive adjectives
- •Demonstrative pronouns
- •Interrogative pronouns
- •Syntax diachronic approach. Structure of the sentence. Simple sentence. Complex/compound sentence. (7th lecture)
In general the changes in me and ne adjectives were so insignificant that you can hardly find them in books. Pronouns
Most pronouns are declined by number, case and gender; in the plural form most pronouns have only one form for all genders. Additionally, Old English pronouns reserve the dual form (which is specifically for talking about groups of two things, for example "we two" or "you two" or "they two"). These were uncommon even then, but remained in use throughout the period.
First Person |
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Case |
Singular |
Plural |
Dual |
Nominative |
ic, īc |
wē |
wit |
Accusative |
mec, mē |
ūsic, ūs |
uncit, unc |
Genitive |
mīn |
ūre |
uncer |
Dative |
mē |
ūs |
unc |
Second Person |
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Case |
Singular |
Plural |
Dual |
Nominative |
þū |
gē |
git |
Accusative |
þēc, þē |
ēowic, ēow |
incit, inc |
Genitive |
þīn |
ēower |
incer |
Dative |
þē |
ēow |
inc |
Third Person |
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Case |
Singular |
Plural |
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|
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Masc. |
Neut. |
Fem. |
|
|
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Nominative |
hē |
hit |
hēo |
hiē m., hēo f. |
|
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Accusative |
hine |
hit |
hīe |
hiē m., hīo f. |
|
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Genitive |
his |
his |
hire |
hiera m., heora f. |
|
|
Dative |
him |
him |
hire |
him |
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Many of the forms above bear strong resemblances to their contemporary English language equivalents: for instance in the genitive case ēowerbecame "your", ūre became "our", mīn became "mine".
Post-Conquest English inherits its pronouns from Old English, with the exception of the third person plural, a borrowing from Old Norse (the original Old English form clashed with the third person singular and was eventually dropped):
Personal pronouns in Middle English |
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Singular |
Plural |
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Subject |
Object |
Possessive |
Subject |
Object |
Possessive |
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First |
I |
me |
mi(n) |
we |
us |
oure |
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Second |
þou/thou |
þee/thee |
þy/thy |
ye |
you |
your |
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Third |
Impersonal |
hit |
it/him |
his |
he þey/they |
hem þem/them |
hir þeir/their |
|
Masculine |
he |
him |
his |
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Feminine |
sche |
hire |
hir |
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Personal pronouns
The first-person pronouns are quite similar to those of Modern English, especially in prose, where you will generally see accusative singular mē rather than mec.
The second-person pronouns, on the other hand, have changed radically since the Old English period Modern English does not distinguish number or any case but the possessive; in fact there are now only two forms of the pronoun, you and your. By contrast, the second-person pronouns of Old English look a lot like the first-person pronouns, distinguishing number and at least three of the cases.
