nijesam
Serbo-Croatian
Alternative forms
- (Standard Bosnian, Standard Croatian, Standard Serbian) nísam
- (regional, chiefly Serbia) nésam
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *ne + *esmь, first-person singular present tense form of *byti. This formation later created *ne jesьmь in the South Slavic vernaculars, which merged to become něsьmь (attested in 1406). The term něsьmь eventually formed něsamь. Because of the yat reflex, něsamь became rendered as nijesam in Ijekavian speeches.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nijěːsam/, /nijěsam/
- Hyphenation: ni‧je‧sam
Verb
nijésam
- (historical, literary) negative first-person singular present of biti
nijèsam
- (Montenegro) negative first-person singular present of biti
References
- “nijesam” in Hrvatski jezični portal
- Pero Budmani, editor (1892-1897), “jesam”, in Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika (in Serbo-Croatian), volume 4, Zagreb: JAZU, page 606