lítill

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse lítill, from Proto-Germanic *lītilaz. Cognate with Faroese lítil, Danish liden, Norwegian liten, Swedish liten, Elfdalian litn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈliːtɪtl/

  Rhymes: -iːtɪtl

Adjective

lítill (comparative minni or (when functioning as a noun) minnu, superlative minnstur)

1. short, small
2. little, insignificant

Declension

Positive forms of lítill

strong declension (indefinite)	singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	lítill	lítil	lítið
	accusative	lítinn	litla
	dative	litlum	lítilli	litlu
	genitive	lítils	lítillar	lítils
	plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	litlir	litlar	lítil
	accusative	litla
	dative	litlum
	genitive	lítilla
weak declension (definite)	singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	litli	litla	litla
	acc/dat/gen	litla	litlu
	plural (all-case)	litlu

Comparative forms of lítill

weak declension (definite)		masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular (all-case)	minni, minnu1	minni, minnu1	minna, minnu1
	plural (all-case)	minni

¹When functioning as a noun.

Superlative forms of lítill

strong declension (indefinite)	singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	minnstur	minnst	minnst
	accusative	minnstan	minnsta
	dative	minnstum	minnstri	minnstu
	genitive	minnsts	minnstrar	minnsts
	plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	minnstir	minnstar	minnst
	accusative	minnsta
	dative	minnstum
	genitive	minnstra
weak declension (definite)	singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	minnsti	minnsta	minnsta
	acc/dat/gen	minnsta	minnstu
	plural (all-case)	minnstu

Derived terms

• að minnsta kosti
• gera sér lítið fyrir
• lítil stund
• með minna móti
• muna minnstu
• skipta litlu
• svolítill

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *lītilaz (“small, little, few”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (leitils). The comparative and superlative degrees are from Proto-Germanic *minnizô and *minnistaz respectively, ultimately being degrees of Proto-Indo-European *minu- (“small”), but are already inflections of *lītilaz at the Proto-Germanic stage.

Adjective

lítill (comparative minni, superlative minnstr)

1. little, small, short

   Antonym: mikill

Inflection

This word has a suppletive inflection, using another root in the comparative and superlative forms, than in the positive form. Before the consonant cluster found in the contracted forms, the central vowel is shortened from í to i, so that lítlir > litlir. Note also the unexpected -nn ending in the masculine accusative singular form (lítinn instead of litlan), and the -t ending in the nominative and accusative singular neuter forms (lítit instead of lítilt).

Strong declension of lítill

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	lítill	lítil	lítit
accusative	lítinn	litla	lítit
dative	litlum	lítilli	litlu
genitive	lítils	lítillar	lítils
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	litlir	litlar	lítil
accusative	litla	litlar	lítil
dative	litlum	litlum	litlum
genitive	lítilla	lítilla	lítilla

Weak declension of lítill

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	litli	litla	litla
accusative	litla	litlu	litla
dative	litla	litlu	litla
genitive	litla	litlu	litla
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	litlu	litlu	litlu
accusative	litlu	litlu	litlu
dative	litlum	litlum	litlum
genitive	litlu	litlu	litlu

Declension of comparative of lítill

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	minni	minni	minna
accusative	minna	minni	minna
dative	minna	minni	minna
genitive	minna	minni	minna
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	minni	minni	minni
accusative	minni	minni	minni
dative	minnum	minnum	minnum
genitive	minni	minni	minni

Strong declension of superlative of lítill

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	minnstr	minnst	minnst
accusative	minnstan	minnsta	minnst
dative	minnstum	minnstri	minnstu
genitive	minnsts	minnstrar	minnsts
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	minnstir	minnstar	minnst
accusative	minnsta	minnstar	minnst
dative	minnstum	minnstum	minnstum
genitive	minnstra	minnstra	minnstra

Weak declension of superlative of lítill

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	minnsti	minnsta	minnsta
accusative	minnsta	minnstu	minnsta
dative	minnsta	minnstu	minnsta
genitive	minnsta	minnstu	minnsta
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	minnstu	minnstu	minnstu
accusative	minnstu	minnstu	minnstu
dative	minnstum	minnstum	minnstum
genitive	minnstu	minnstu	minnstu

Descendants

• Icelandic: lítill
• Faroese: lítil
• Norn: litel
• Norwegian Nynorsk: liten
• Elfdalian: litn
• Old Swedish: lītil, lītin
  • Swedish: lilla, liten
• Old Danish: litæl, litæn
  • Danish: lille, liden
  • Norwegian Bokmål: liten