In Modern English, I is the singular, first-person pronoun.
In Modern English, I is the singular, first-person pronoun.
In Standard Modern English, I has five distinct word forms:
Old English had a first-person pronoun that inflected for four cases and three numbers. I originates from Old English (OE) ic, which had in turn originated from the continuation of Proto-Germanic *ik, and ek; [3] The asterisk denotes an unattested form, but ek was attested in the Elder Futhark inscriptions (in some cases notably showing the variant eka; see also ek erilaz). Linguists assume ik to have developed from the unstressed variant of ek. Variants of ic were used in various English dialects up until the 1600s. [4] The Proto-Germanic root came, in turn, from the Proto Indo-European language (PIE) *eg-. [3]
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early OE | Late OE | ME | Early | Late | ME | Early | Late | ME | |
| Nominative | iċ | ic | I | wit | wit | we | wē | wē | |
| Accusative | meċ | mē | mē | uncit | unc | usiċ | ūs | us | |
| Dative | me | unc | ūs | ||||||
| Genitive | mīn | mīn | mī(n) | uncer | uncer | ūser | ūre | our(es) | |
*Early OE circa c. 700 CE, [5] : 144 late, [6] : 117 and ME [6] : 120
Old English me and mec are from Proto-Germanic *meke (accusative) and *mes (dative). [7] Mine is from Proto-Germanic *minaz, [8] and my is a reduced form of mine. [9] All of these are from PIE root *me-. [7] [8]
I can appear as a subject, object, determiner, or predicative complement. [10] The reflexive form also appears as an adjunct. [11] Me occasionally appears as a modifier in a noun phrase.
The above applies when the pronoun stands alone as the subject or object. In some varieties of English (particularly in formal registers), those rules also apply in coordinative constructions such as "you and I". [12]
In many dialects of informal English, the accusative is sometimes used when the pronoun is part of a coordinative subject construction, [12] as in
This is stigmatized but common in many dialects. [12]
Pronouns rarely take dependents, but it is possible for me to have many of the same kind of dependents as other noun phrases.
I's referents are limited to the individual person speaking or writing, the first person. I is always definite and specific.
According to the OED, the following pronunciations are used:
| Form | Plain | Unstressed | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | (UK) /ʌɪ/ (US) /aɪ/ | ||
| me | (UK) /miː/ (US) /mi/ | /mi/, /mɪ/ /mɪ/ | |
| my | (UK) /mʌɪ/ (US) /maɪ/ | ||
| mine | (UK) /mʌɪn/ (US) /maɪn/ | ||
| myself | (UK) /mʌɪˈsɛlf/ (US) /maɪˈsɛlf/ | /mᵻˈsɛlf/ /məˈsɛlf/ |
In grammar, the accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to receive the direct object of a transitive verb.
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In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase.
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