unk

See also: -unk, unk., and -ünk

Middle English

Alternative forms

• unc

Etymology

From Old English unc, accusative and dative form of wit, from Proto-Germanic *unk (accusative of *wet) and *unkiz (dative/instrumental of *wet).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /unk/

Pronoun

unk (nominative wit) (Early Middle English)

1. First-person dual accusative pronoun: us twain, the two of us.
2. (reflexive) our (two) selves.

See also

Middle English personal pronouns

			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
	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
		bor.	þei	þem, þeim		þeir	þeir þeires, þeiren

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

• “unk, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 11 May 2018.

Old Saxon

Pronoun

unk

1. accusative/dative of wit