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A comment on Learn to read Middle English. Parent comment

Re:Learn to read Middle English by stevula on Tuesday June 09, 2020 @08:28PM (#23472568)
> Doesn't that also explain why our pronouns are Scandinavian rather than the ones found in Old English or old Norman?

I think only the third person plural (they/their/them) is of Old Norse origin (ON þeir supplanting OE hie). Interesting, we still use 'em which probably derives from the original English pronoun, not a shortening of "them" (we don't normally chop "th" off the beginning of a word).

Compare for example:

he: OE "he" / ON "hann"

your: OE "eower" / ON "yðar"

it: OE "hit" / ON "þat" (note: still "hit" in some modern dialects)

her: OE "hire" / ON "hennar/henni"

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Re:Learn to read Middle English by thaumasiotes on Tuesday June 09, 2020 @11:31PM (#23473619)
> Interesting, we still use 'em which probably derives from the original English pronoun, not a shortening of "them" (we don't normally chop "th" off the beginning of a word).

This is not a strong point; "them" is not a normal word. We freely reduce all the pronouns.

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