í

Forms

í^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *in (“in, into”),^[1] the preposition Kroonen writes *in(i) and Orel *eni; its cognates are Gothic 𐌹𐌽 (in), Old English in, Old Frisian in, Old Saxon in and Old High German in.^[2][3] In Norse it was contracted to ⟨í⟩,^[4] and Cleasby and Vigfússon point to the example ⟨í sá ísa⟩ in the treatise Skálda, which shows that the vowel was once nasal.^[4]

The Germanic word continues Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”),^[1][2] with Latin in, Ancient Greek ἐν (en) and Ancient Greek ἐνί (ení), Lithuanian į and Old Irish in-.^[3][5]

Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon separates the ⟨í⟩ of í dag “today” and í gær “yesterday”, usually taken for the preposition: he thinks it more likely an old case form of the pronoun stem behind er (“who, which”), as in Old English īdæges (“on this day”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota's earliest dated record is the Norwegian runestone N 184, of 980–1015: Sá varð dauðr í liði, þá's Knútr sótti England “he died in the troop when Knútr attacked England”.^[6][7] In manuscripts ONP's first dated records are of about 1200, in the Icelandic Homily Book, for example í einom vilia “in one will”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

With the dative í marks rest in a place and with the accusative motion into it.^[1][4] From place it extended to time (í því bili “at that moment”), to clothing (vera í “to have on”) and to states and occupations (vera í víkingu “to be on a viking raid”).^[9] With place-names it is the usual preposition for farms, valleys and islands (í Orkneyjum).^[9][8] De Leeuw van Weenen puts it in the frequency band 1–100 of the oldest texts.^[10]

The preposition continues in all the Scandinavian languages: Icelandic í, Faroese í, Norwegian Nynorsk i, Swedish i and Danish i.^[1][5]

Timeline

• 980–1015 – í liði “in the troop” on the Norwegian runestone N 184.^[6]
• 1200 – í einom vilia “in one will” in the Icelandic Homily Book.^[8]
• 1212 – first record in ONP of the local sense “in, at” with a place.^[8]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with the dative) in, within, at a place; with islands and stretches of water, on.^[8][9]
2. (with the dative) as part of a place-name, especially of a farm.^[8]
3. (with the dative) in, among; wearing (clothes).^[9]
4. (with the dative) during, at (a time); in a state or activity.^[9][11]
5. (with the accusative) into, to, towards a place; also of time, í sumar “this summer”.^[8][12]

Descendants

• Icelandic í^[1]
• Faroese í^[1]
• Norn i^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk i^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål i^[1]
• Old Swedish ī^[1]
• Swedish i^[1]
• Danish i^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 269
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 84
4. ^ a b c Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 315
5. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. í
6. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. N 184
7. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. N 184
8. ^ a b c d e f g Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. í
9. ^ a b c d e Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. í
10. ^ de Leeuw van Weenen, Andrea (1999), Grundwortschatz Altisländisch, Leiden, p. 9
11. ^ Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 301
12. ^ Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. í