þú
Icelandic
Alternative forms
- -du, -ðu, -u (enclitic forms)
Etymology
From Old Norse þú, from Proto-Germanic *þū, from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂. Cognate with English thou, German du.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /θu/, [θ̠uː]
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -uː
Pronoun
þú
- (personal, in the singular) you, thou
- Þú ert skemmtilegur.
- You are fun.
- Ertu nemandi?
- Are you a student?
Usage notes
After verbs, the pronoun þú is either separated:
- ert þú ― are you
- borðar þú ― do you eat
- kom þú ― come!
or suffixed and changed into -ðu, -du, or -u:
- ertu ― are you
- borðarðu ― do you eat
- komdu ― come!
If the verb ends in a "t", -u is used. If it ends in a "m" or "n", -du is used. Otherwise -ðu is used.
The suffixed version is almost always used except when the speaker wants to emphasize "þú" or sound more formal.
Many younger speakers will write borðaru instead of borðarðu as that is how the word is pronounced
Declension
Icelandic personal pronouns | ||||||
singular | first person | second person | third person masculine | third person feminine | third person neuter | |
nominative | ég, eg†, ek† | þú | hann | hún, hon†, hón† | það, þat† | |
accusative | mig, mik† | þig, þik† | hann | hana | það, þat† | |
dative | mér | þér | honum, hánum† | henni | því | |
genitive | mín | þín | hans | hennar | þess | |
plural | first person | second person | third person masculine | third person feminine | third person neuter | |
nominative | við | þið, þit† | þeir | þær | þau | |
accusative | okkur | ykkur | þá | þær | þau | |
dative | okkur | ykkur | þeim | þeim | þeim | |
genitive | okkar | ykkar | þeirra | þeirra | þeirra |
Synonyms
- (singular you): þér (formal, archaic)
Derived terms
- ertu
- gangi þér vel
- þúa
- þúbróðir/þúnautur
- þú og hvaða her
- þúst
Old Norse
Alternative forms
- -du, -ðu, -tu (enclitic forms)
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *þū (“you; thou”), from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“you; thou”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /θuː/
Pronoun
þú
- (in the singular) you (thou)
- 900s-1000s, Hávamál, verse 112
- Ráðum'k þér, Loddfáfnir, / at þú ráð nemir,
njóta mundu ef þú nemr,
þér munu góð ef þú getr:
Nótt þú rís-at / nema á njósn sér
eða þú leitir þér innan út staðar.- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 900s-1000s, Hávamál, verse 112
Usage notes
It may become enclitic when after a verb, that is, be appended to the preceding word as either -du, -ðu or -tu depending on the consonant cluster. The rules for this are the same as for the past tense dental suffixes of the class 1 weak verbs. This may happen more often in Old Norse, as the personal pronoun is often used with the singular imperative. This is not to say, however, that whenever þú comes after a verb, it will always take an enclitic form. It could well stay separate for the sake of emphasis. With the clitics, this is how it ends up looking.
- fórt + þú → fórtu
- kenn + þú → kenndu
- far + þú → farðu
- miskunna + þú → miskunnaðu
Note, as seen in the last two examples, that this does not cause u-umlaut.
Declension
number | first person | second person | reflexive | third person | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
case | singular | singular masculine | singular feminine | singular neuter | ||
nominative | ek | þú | hann | hon, hón | þat | |
accusative | mik | þik | sik | hann, hánn | hana, hána | þat |
dative | mér | þér | sér | hánum, hónum | henni | því |
genitive | mínn, minn | þínn, þinn | sínn, sinn | hans, háns | hennar | þess |
case | dual | |||||
nominative | vit | it, þit | ||||
accusative | okkr | ykkr | sik | |||
dative | okkr | ykkr | sér | |||
genitive | okkarr | ykkarr | sínn, sinn | |||
case | plural | plural masculine | plural feminine | plural neuter | ||
nominative | vér | ér, þér | þeir | þær | þau | |
accusative | oss | yðr | sik | þá | þær | þau |
dative | oss | yðr | sér | þeim | þeim | þeim |
genitive | várr | yðarr, yðvarr | sínn, sinn | þeira, þeirra | þeira, þeirra | þeira, þeirra |
Descendants
- Icelandic: þú, -du, -ðu, -tu
- Faroese: tú
- Norwegian Nynorsk: du
- Norwegian Bokmål: du
- Jamtish: dú
- Elfdalian: du
- Westrobothnian: du, duw, döuw, deo, do
- Old Swedish: þū
- Swedish: du, tu, thu, dhu (last three obsolete)
- Old Danish: thu
- Danish: du
The enclitic use lives on in modern Icelandic þú. See there for more.
See also
- þinn (possessive pronoun)