þér

See also: yer, ther, YER, and -yer

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛːr

Etymology 1

From Old Norse þér.

Pronoun

þér

1. (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 the 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

1. (archaic) plural of þú
2. (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.

   Hvað hugsið þér?

   What do you think?

   Verið þér sælar, frú mín góð.

   Good day to you, milady.

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.

Declension

Icelandic honorific pronouns
plural	first person	second person
nominative	vér	þér
accusative	oss	yður
dative	oss	yður
genitive	vor	yðar

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Old Norse

Alternative forms

• ér, ír

Etymology

From ér, an Old Norse derivative of a variant of Proto-Germanic *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. The initial þ comes from the ð in the second person plural verb ending (e.g. hafið ér → reinterpreted as hafið þér).

Pronunciation

• (12th century Icelandic) IPA^(key): /ˈθeːr/

Pronoun

þér

1. you (plural)

Declension

• nominative: þér
• genitive: yðarr, yðvarr
• dative: yðr
• accusative: yðr

Descendants

• Faroese: tær
• Icelandic: þér
• Norwegian: de, dere
• Old Swedish: īr, ī, ᛁᚱ
  • Swedish: I, ni (← hafven I)
• Danish: I

References

• Byock, Jesse L. (2013) Viking Language 1: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas, →ISBN, page 373