þi

See also: Thi, thi, thi-, thì, thí, thī, Thị, thị, ʈʰi, thĩ, thî, and þí

Etymology 1

An apocopic form of þin, þine, thyn, from Old English þīn, from Proto-West Germanic *þīn, from Proto-Germanic *þīnaz.

Alternative forms

they, thi, thy, ti, ty, þei, þey, þhi, þy, yi, yhi

Pronunciation

(stressed) IPA^(key): /θiː/, /ðiː/
(unstressed) IPA^(key): /ði/^[1]^[2]
(after /t/, /d/, especially early) IPA^(key): /tiː/, /ti/

Determiner

þi (nominative pronoun þou)

second-person singular possessive determiner: thy, your^[3]

Usage notes

When followed by a word starting with a vowel or h-, þin or one of its variants is typically used.

Descendants

English: thy
Yola: thee, th'

			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

Close

Middle English personal pronouns

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]
“thin, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Determiner

þi

(Northern) Alternative form of þe (“the”)

Etymology 3

Pronoun

þi

Alternative form of þe (“thee”)

Etymology 4

Pronoun

þi

Alternative form of þei (“they”)

Etymology 5

Adverb

þi

Alternative form of þe (“the”)

Etymology 6

Noun

þi (plural þies)

Alternative form of þigh (“thigh”)

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Article

þī

Alternative form of þȳ

Determiner

þī

Alternative form of þȳ

Pronoun

þī

Alternative form of þȳ

[1] [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] [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] [3]
“thin, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

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