ᛖᚲ

Proto-Norse

Alternative forms

ᛖᚲᚨ (eka), ᛖᚴᛡ (ekᴀ) — spelling variants
-ᚲᚨ (-ka), -ᚳᚨ (-ka), -ᚴᛡ (-kᴀ) — enclitic

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂

Proto-Indo-European *e-

Proto-Indo-European *-m

?

Proto-Indo-European *-óm

Proto-Indo-European *eǵh₂óm

Proto-Germanic *eka

Proto-Germanic *ek

Proto-Norse ᛖᚲ

From Proto-Germanic *ek, from Proto-Indo-European *eǵh₂óm.

The pronoun is the attested early in an inscription on the 2nd–4th century Lindholm amulet (DR 261), which also contains a postpositive (possibly clitic) form of the pronoun in ᚺᚨᛏᛖᚳᚨ (hateka /⁠haitē’ka⁠/, “I am called”). For the forms with final -a, see ᛖᚲᚨ (eka).

Pronoun

ᛖᚲ (ek)

first-person singular pronoun: I
- c. 250 – c. 450, inscription on the Tune stone (N KJ72):
  ᛖᚲᚹᛁᚹᚨᛉᚨᚠᛏᛖᚱᚹᛟᛞᚢᚱᛁᛞᛖ / […]^[1]
  ekwiwaʀafterwoduride / […]
  I, Wiwaz, after Woduridaz / […]
- c. 425, inscription on the Golden Horns of Gallehus (SJy 60):
  ᛖᚲᚺᛚᛖᚹᚨᚷᚨᛊᛏᛁᛉ᛬ᚺᛟᛚᛏᛁᛃᚨᛉ᛬ᚺᛟᚱᚾᚨ᛬ᛏᚨᚹᛁᛞᛟ᛬^[2]
  ekhlewagastiʀ:holtijaʀ:horna:tawido:
  I, Hlewagastiz Holtijaz, made the horn
- c. 250 – c. 450, inscription on the Hogganvik runestone (N Viking2011;28):
  ᛖᚲᚾᚨᚢᛞᛁᚷᚨᛋᛏᛁᛉ / […]^[3]^[4]
  eknaudigastiʀ / […]
  I, Naudigastiz, / […]

Related terms

ᛗᛖᛉ (meʀ) (dative)

Descendants

Old Norse: ek, iak — Old East Norse, -k — enclitic
- Icelandic: ek, eg, ég
- Faroese: eg, jeg
- Norn: yach (dialectal)
- Norwegian: ej, é, eig, í, æg, æj, æ, je, jæj (dialectal)
  - Norwegian Nynorsk: eg
- Jamtish: jeg
- Dalian: ik, ig
  - Elfdalian: ig
- Old Swedish: iak, iæk, iag, iagh, iach (late), ᛁᛆᚴ, ᛁᛅᚴ (Runic)
  - Swedish: jag
- Old Danish: iak, iæk, iægh, æk, ak
  - Danish: jeg, a, æ, ja, jæ (dialectal)
    - Norwegian Bokmål: jeg
  - Scanian: jağ
  - Jutish: æ
- Old Gutnish: iek
  - Gutnish: ja

References

^ “Inscription/entry N KJ72”, in Runic Writing in the Germanic Languages (RuneS-Database) (overall work in English and German), Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, (Can we date this quote?)
^ “Inscription/entry SJy 60”, in Runic Writing in the Germanic Languages (RuneS-Database) (overall work in English and German), Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, (Can we date this quote?)
^ “Inscription/entry N Viking2011;28”, in Runic Writing in the Germanic Languages (RuneS-Database) (overall work in English and German), Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, (Can we date this quote?)
^ Knirk, James E. (27 October 2009), “Runic inscription from Hogganvik, Mandal, Vest-Agder (2009)”, in Kulturhistorisk museum‎^[1] (preliminary report), Oslo, Norway: University of Oslo

[1] “Inscription/entry N KJ72”, in Runic Writing in the Germanic Languages (RuneS-Database) (overall work in English and German), Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, (Can we date this quote?)

[2] “Inscription/entry SJy 60”, in Runic Writing in the Germanic Languages (RuneS-Database) (overall work in English and German), Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, (Can we date this quote?)

[3] “Inscription/entry N Viking2011;28”, in Runic Writing in the Germanic Languages (RuneS-Database) (overall work in English and German), Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, (Can we date this quote?)

[4] Knirk, James E. (27 October 2009), “Runic inscription from Hogganvik, Mandal, Vest-Agder (2009)”, in Kulturhistorisk museum‎^[1] (preliminary report), Oslo, Norway: University of Oslo

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]