Chapter V
Reading edition
PRONOUNS
§ 65.
1. Personal.
Sing.
Nom. ich, I du, dū, thou
Acc. mich dich
Gen. mīn dīn
Dat. mir dir
Plur.
Nom. wir ir
Acc. unsich, uns iuch
Gen. unser iuwer
Dat. uns iu
Sing.
Masc. Neut. Fem.
Nom. ër, he ëȥ, it, there si, sī, siu, sie, she
Acc. in ëȥ sie, si, sī
Gen. (ës) ës ir(e)
Dat. im(e) im(e) ir(e)
Plur.
Nom. Acc. si, sī, sie (Neut. also siu), they
Gen. ir(e)
Dat. in
Note.—1. The gen. ir is often used as a possessive pronoun. For ëȥ the form iȥ sometimes appears.
2. For the acc. pl. unsich the dat. uns is mostly used. iu is often used for iuch, and vice versa. im, ir are more usual than ime, ire.
3. The unstressed forms of personal pronouns are often attached to other words, as ichȥ, iȥ = ich ëȥ; ichne, ine, ichn = ich ne (not); tuostu = tuost du; dune, dun = du ne (not); tuoȥ = tuo ëȥ; eist, ēst = ëȥ ist; deiȥ = daȥ ëȥ; mohter = mohte ër; baten = bat in; wirȥ = wir ëȥ, &c.
§ 66.
2. Reflexive.
Sing. Plur.
Acc. sich sich
Gen. sīn (fem. ir) ir
Dat. im, ir in
§ 67.
3. Possessive.
mīn, my; dīn, thy; sīn, his; ir, her; unser, our; iuwer, your; ir, their.
They are declined like the strong adjective michel, great (§ 55). The dat. sing. forms dīnme, sīnme are generally contracted to dīme, sīme, see § 9, 3.
§ 68.
4. Demonstrative.
Sing.
Masc. Neut. Fem.
Nom. dër, the daȥ diu
Acc. dën daȥ die
Gen. dës dës dër(e)
Dat. dëm(e) dëm(e) dër(e)
Instr. diu
Plur.
Masc. Neut. Fem.
Nom. die diu die
Acc. die diu die
Gen. dër(e) dër(e) dër(e)
Dat. dën dën dën
Like dër is also declined jener, that, except that the Nom., Acc. sg. neut. ends in -eȥ. dër, &c., is used both as definite article and relative pronoun.
Note.—1. For the fem. nom. sing. and the neut. nom. acc. pl. diu, the form die was sometimes used; and conversely diu for die in the fem. acc. singular. diu and die were sometimes weakened to de, and to d’ before words beginning with a vowel. daȥ was sometimes weakened to deȥ, and still further to ȥ which was then attached to a preceding word, as lātȥ kind = lāt daȥ kint; anȥ, inȥ = an, in daȥ. dēst, deis, dēs = daȥ ist.
2. The various cases were often fused into one word with prepositions, as anme, ame, am = an dëme; zëme, zëm = ze dëme; ūfme = ūf dëme; zër = ze dër (fem.); übern = über dën; ūfën = ūf dën; zën = ze dën.
Sing.
Masc. Neut. Fem.
Nom. dirre (diser, dise), this ditze, diz, diȥ disiu
Acc. disen ditze, diz, diȥ dise
Gen. dises dises dirre
Dat. disem(e) disem(e) dirre
Plur.
Nom. dise disiu dise
Acc. dise disiu dise
Gen. dirre dirre dirre
Dat. disen disen disen
5. Relative.
§ 69. A relative pronoun proper did not exist in the oldest periods of the Germanic languages, and accordingly the separate languages expressed it in various ways. In MHG. the following pronouns and adverbial particles were used to express it:—
1. dër, daȥ (also used as a conjunction), diu, also in combination with the particles dar der dā. 2. sō, alsō (alse, als), as; sam (alsam), as. 3. dā(r), where, dar, thither, whither, darinne, therein, dannen, wherefrom, darumbe, therefore, dō, when, as. 4. Indefinite relatives, as swër (from sō wër), whoever, swelch, each who, swëder, who of two; swā, swar, wherever, swannen, swanne (swenne), whenever, swie, however, howsoever. 5. The conjunction unde, and.
6. Interrogative.
§ 70. The MHG. simple interrogative pronoun has no independent form for the feminine, and is declined in the singular only.
Masc. Fem. Neut.
Nom. wër, who waȥ
Acc. wën waȥ
Gen. wës wës
Dat. wëm(e) wëm(e)
Instr. wiu
In the same manner are declined the compounds:
swër (from sō wër), whoever, etewër, eteswër, anyone, neiȥwër (= ne weiȥ wër, I do not know who), anyone.
wëder, who of two, is declined like a strong adjective; welīch (welch), which, is also declined like a strong adjective, but the nom. singular remains uninflected.
7. Indefinite.
§ 71. ander, other; dechein, dehein, dekein, no, none; dewëder, neither; ein, one, some one: when ein is used with the meaning alone it follows the weak declension; etelīch, etlīch, eteslīch, etslīch, anyone, many a, pl. = some; etewër, eteswër, anyone; etewaȥ, anything; iegelīch, ieslīch, iegeslīch, each; ieman, iemen, someone, somebody; iewëder, ietwëder, each; iewelīch, iewelich, each; iewiht, iht, anything; kein, no; man, one; manec, many a, declined maneger, manegeȥ, manegiu, &c.; nehein, no, none; niht, nothing; solch, such, declined like manec; sum, any one at all, pl. some; sumelīch, sumlīch, many a; swelch, each who; swër, whoever; wëder, which of two; welīch (welch), which, declined like manec.