Sie

Forms

Sie (personal pronoun of polite address, singular and plural, with a plural verb; genitive Ihrer, dative Ihnen, accusative Sie)^[2][1] As a noun: die Sie (genitive der Sie, plural Sies), colloquial.^[2]

Etymology

It is the plural pronoun sie “they”, used as a form of address and written with a capital letter.^[3][4][5] That pronoun is inherited from Middle High German sie, inherited from Old High German sie (“they (masculine)”).^[3][4][1] Old High German still had a feminine plural sio and a neuter plural siu beside it, as well as separate feminine singular forms, and Middle High German reduced all of them to sī and si beside the older form, until New High German kept a single form for every case.^[4][3]

The pronoun is built on a stem with initial /s/ that Germanic used beside the stem of er and es.^[3][6] In Gothic 𐍃𐌹 (si, “she”) it forms only the feminine nominative singular, which Kluge and the Grimms' dictionary take to be its original use in Germanic, and the use for the plural came later.^[5][6] Outside Germanic the same form is found in Old Irish sí (“she”) and in the accusative Sanskrit सीम् (sīm).^[4][5] Kluge explains Proto-Indo-European *siə as a feminine made from the reflexive stem *se, either extended with a pointing particle or blended with the more common pronoun stem *i-.^[5][3] Pfeifer adds that the Old High German feminine singular, with the accusative sia, was shaped after the demonstrative thia, and that the pronoun then built its plural forms on the pattern of the strong adjectives.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German forms of the pronoun are recorded from the 8th century, and they occur in nearly every Old High German text, from the glosses and baptismal vows to Otfrid and Notker.^[5][7][8] As a form of address, the plural pronoun first stood beside the plural titles for persons of high rank that came up in the 16th century, such as Euer Gnaden “Your Grace”: the speaker named the title and then went on with “they”.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

In the early 17th century the plural was used on its own to address a prince, following plural courtesy titles, and by the end of the century it had become a general form of address, at first beside the older Ihr.^[3][4] In the 18th century it was usual among the nobility and the educated middle class, and since then it has been written with a capital letter.^[4] The capital served to tell the form of address apart from the ordinary pronoun.^[1]

From the first half of the 17th century the feminine singular Sie, with a singular verb, was also used to address a woman, at first as a more polite form than Ihr.^[9][3] In the 18th century this singular form sank to an address for people of lower standing, such as servants: Lessing's Minna has a young lady greet her maid with it, while the other characters are addressed with the plural form.^[3][9]

The pronoun has been used as a noun for a female being since the 12th century: Walther von der Vogelweide writes ez si ein sie, ez si ein er “be it a she or a he”.^[9] It was used especially of female animals, and Middle High German sī could also mean “woman”.^[3][9] Today the noun is common in personal advertisements.^[9] The verb siezen “to address with Sie” is recorded from the 17th century.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German forms of the pronoun are recorded.^[5][7]
• 12th century – The pronoun is used as a noun for a female, as in Walther von der Vogelweide.^[9]
• 16th century – Plural titles such as Euer Gnaden come up for persons of high rank, followed by the plural pronoun.^[4]
• Early 17th century – The plural Sie is used on its own to address a prince.^[3]
• 1st half of the 17th century – The singular Sie with a singular verb is used to address a woman.^[9][3]
• 17th century – The verb siezen appears.^[3][4]
• End of the 17th century – The plural Sie becomes a general form of address, beside Ihr.^[3]
• 18th century – It is usual among nobles and the educated middle class and is written with a capital letter.^[4] The singular Sie becomes an address for people of lower rank.^[3]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. you: the polite form of address to one or more persons, used where du or ihr would be too familiar, with the verb in the plural: Möchten Sie noch einen Tee?^[2][1]
2. (obsolete) With a singular verb, a form of address to a woman of lower rank, such as a maid.^[2][9]

Noun

1. (colloquial) A female person or animal: Die junge Amsel dort ist eine Sie.^[2][3]

Word family

• siezen

Related words

• sie
• er
• es
• ihr
• duzen

Usage notes

Jemanden mit Sie anreden is to address someone formally, as opposed to duzen.^[2][3] The capital is kept in all the forms of address: Ihrer, Ihnen, Sie.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
5. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 847
6. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 16, 759
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 89
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer