Niw Englisch/Pronouns

Pronouns are words that replace nouns in a sentence, avoiding repetitiveness in a sentence. In the Niw Englisch language, there are pronouns derived from their Old English counterparts.

First Person

• I, my/mine, me (singular) - ic, mein, miȝ, mic
• we two, our, us two (dual) - wit, unker, unk, unkit
• we, our, us (plural) - wiȝ, user, us, usic

Second Person

• thou, thy/thine, thee (singular) - þu, þein, þiȝ, þic
• ye two, your, you two (dual) - ȝit, inker, ink, inkit
• ye, your, you (plural) - ȝiȝ, ȝoer, ȝo, ȝoic

Third Person

• he, his, him (masc. sing.) - he, his/sein, him, hin
• she, her, her (fem. sing.) - schie, her, her, schie/scho
• it, its, it (neuter sing.) - it, his/sein, him, it
• they, their, them (plural) - hje, hjer, hjem, hje

In the third person, sein refers solely to the subject of the sentence and is inflected like her, while his is used to refer often to a person in addition to the subject when there are two men or two neuter topics.

For example:

• John fand seinen Broðer - John found his (John's) brother
• John fand his Broðer - John found his brother (could be John's or some other person's)
• John and Mark soȝhten hjere Brœðer. John fand seinen Broðer and his Broðer. - John and Mark were looking for their brothers. John found his brother and Mark's brother.

Relative Pronouns

In Niw Englisch, the most common relative pronoun is the particle þe.

Example:

• ic fand þen Mann, þe ic soȝhte - I found the person whom I sought.

To be more specific, the definite article is used as the relative pronoun, either alone or with þe together:

• he brow þat Gedrenk, þe he drank - he brewed the drink that he drank.
• he brow þat Gedrenk, þat þe he drank - he brewed the drink that he drank.

They translate the same, but using the definite article with the particle is more formal and clearer as what your referencing:

• schie soȝhte þen Mann, þe schie saw - she sought the man who saw her; she sought the man whom she saw.
• schie soȝhte þen Mann, þen (þe) schie saw - she sought the man whom she saw.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are those that are asking for information, corresponding to who? what?

• who, whose, whom - ƕa ƕas, ƕam, ƕan; unstressed ƕes, ƕem, ƕen
• what? - ƕat, ƕas, ƕam, ƕat?