þing

See also: thing, Thing, ying, Ying, yíng, yìng, yīng, yǐng, and Yǐng

Icelandic

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þing

Etymology

From Old Norse þing (“assembly, council, business”), in turn from Proto-Germanic *þingą.

Cognate with Faroese ting, Norwegian ting, Swedish ting, and Danish ting, English thing, Dutch ding, German Ding.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /θiŋk/
Rhymes: -iŋk

Noun

þing n (genitive singular þings, nominative plural þing)

assembly, meeting, council
parliament

Declension

Declension of *þing* (neuter)
	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	þing	þingið	þing	þingin
accusative	þing	þingið	þing	þingin
dative	þingi	þinginu	þingum	þingunum
genitive	þings	þingsins	þinga	þinganna

Derived terms

allsherjarþing (“General Assembly”)
Alþingi
fjarþinghald (“teleconferencing”)
rafrænt þinghald (“electronic conferencing”)
símaþinghald (“teleconferencing”)
sýndarþinghald (“virtual conferencing, virtual conference”)
tölvuþinghald (“computer conferencing”)
þinga
þinghald (“conferencing”)
þingmaður

References

^ German cognate in Deutsches Wörterbuch

Old Danish

Alternative forms

thing (Jutland)

Etymology

From Old Norse þing, from Proto-Germanic *þingą.

Noun

þing n (genitive þings, plural þing)

(Scania) assembly, council
- c. 1210, "Uil bryti skilias", Scanian Law, chapter 231.
  […] þa fari brytin til tuiggia þinga […]
  […] then the bailiff must attend two assemblies […]

Declension

Declension of *þing*
	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	þing	þingit	þing	þingin
accusative	þing	þingit	þing	þingin
dative	þingi	þinginu	þingum	þingunum
genitive	þings	þingsins	þinga	þinganna

The declension is unstable and should be treated as a guide. The case system was gradually being simplified from four to two cases. Even some nominative markers were sporadically kept in the Scanian dialect, although they mostly were replaced with the accusative endings from Old Norse.

Descendants

Danish: ting
- Norwegian Bokmål: ting

Old English

Alternative forms

þinċġ, þinġċ
ðing — edh spelling

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *þing, from Proto-Germanic *þingą.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /θinɡ/, [θiŋɡ], /θinj/, [θind͡ʒ]
Rhymes: -inɡ, -inj
Hogg 2011^[1] and Fulk 2014^[2] give the pronunciation of the nom/acc singular as þinġ, with palatal ġ, based on the assumption that Proto-West Germanic word-final *-ing regularly yielded Old English -inġ. In contrast, Ringe 2014 is uncertain of this sound change^[3] and writes the nom/acc singular as þing.^[4]

Noun

þing or þinġ n

thing
matter, concern
event, meeting, court
case
- c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Clement the Martyr"
  Wēn is þæt ēower sum cweðe tō him sylfum on stillum ġeðōhtum, ‘Hwæt forlēton þās ġebrōðru, Petrus and Andrēas, þe for nēan nān ðing næfdon?,’ ac wē sċeolon on þisum ðinge heora ġewilnunge swīðor āsmēaġan þonne heora ġestrēon.
  It is to be expected that one of you in his quiet thoughts say to himself, ‘What did the brothers, Peter and Andrew, leave, who had almost nothing?,’ but in this case we should rather consider their desire than their possession.
reason
- c. 992, Ælfric, "The Epiphany of the Lord"
  For ðisum þrym ðingum is ðes freols-dæg Godes swutelung gecweden."
  For these three reasons this festival is called the Manifestation of God."
means
- late 10th century, Ælfric, "The Seven Sleepers"
  ...ac mē tōdæġ swā wundorlīce is ġelumpen þæt ic þurh nān þincg ne mæġ ġecnāwan hwæðer þys sȳ Ephesa byriġ þe elles ǣniġ ōþer;...
  But to-day it has befallen me so wonderfully that I cannot by any means recognise whether this be the city of the Ephesians or else any other.

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	þing	þing
accusative	þing	þing
genitive	þinges	þinga
dative	þinge	þingum

Descendants

Middle English: thing, thinge, thyng
- English: thing
- Scots: thing, ting, hing
- Yola: dhing

References

^ Hogg, Richard; Fulk, R. D. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, volume 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 256: “When a velar consonant occurred finally after /i/ or /j/ but preceded directly by a nasal, then palatalization still occurred. [...] drinċ ‘drink’ imp., þinġ ‘thing’, hrinġ ‘ring’.”
^ R. D. Fulk (2014), An Introductory Grammar of Old English, published 2020, page 104:
As for g after n, this is affricated, like c, only after i or a vowel that has undergone front mutation, as with nom.-acc. sg. þinġ ‘thing’ and menġan ‘mingle’ (from *mangjan); but affrication after -in- is prevented by a following back vowel: cf. singan. Presumably affrication also failed in nom.-acc. pl. þing < *þingu, but it may have been restored by analogy, though this cannot be known for certain.
^ Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 211
^ Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 128

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *þingą.

Pronunciation

(12th century Icelandic) IPA^(key): /ˈθĩŋɡ/

Noun

þing n (genitive þings, plural þing)

a legal assembly
1. thing, a regional parliament of nearby clans, traditionally headed by an elected jarl
2. a multi-regional parliament, with representatives from several þing
a tryst

Declension

Declension of *þing* (strong a-stem)
neuter	singular		plural
neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	þing	þingit	þing	þingin
accusative	þing	þingit	þing	þingin
dative	þingi	þinginu	þingum	þingunum
genitive	þings	þingsins	þinga	þinganna

Descendants

Icelandic: þing
Faroese: ting
Norn: ting
Norwegian Nynorsk: ting
Old Swedish: þing
- Swedish: ting
Old Danish: þing, thing (Jutland)
- Danish: ting
  - Norwegian Bokmål: ting
Gutnish: tingg
→ German: Thing

[DW-1] German cognate in Deutsches Wörterbuch

[2] Hogg, Richard; Fulk, R. D. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, volume 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 256: “When a velar consonant occurred finally after /i/ or /j/ but preceded directly by a nasal, then palatalization still occurred. [...] drinċ ‘drink’ imp., þinġ ‘thing’, hrinġ ‘ring’.”

[3] R. D. Fulk (2014), An Introductory Grammar of Old English, published 2020, page 104:
As for g after n, this is affricated, like c, only after i or a vowel that has undergone front mutation, as with nom.-acc. sg. þinġ ‘thing’ and menġan ‘mingle’ (from *mangjan); but affrication after -in- is prevented by a following back vowel: cf. singan. Presumably affrication also failed in nom.-acc. pl. þing < *þingu, but it may have been restored by analogy, though this cannot be known for certain.

[4] Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 211

[5] Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 128

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