# þei
## Gothic
### Romanization

þei
* Romanization of 𐌸𐌴𐌹

## Middle English
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old Norse þeir.

#### Alternative forms

* thei, þey, þeie, þeye, þeiȝ, þeyȝ, þeih, þeyh, þhei, þhey, þai, þay, þeȝ, þe, þee, þi, þie, þy, þye, ai, ay, yei, yey, yai, yay, þeȝȝ; þæȝe (Early Middle English)
* tai, tay, dei, dey, dai, day (after t or d); tei, tey, teȝȝ (Early Middle English)

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /θæi̯/, /ðæi̯/
* Rhymes: -æi̯

#### Pronoun

þei (accusative þem, genitive þeires, þeiren, possessive determiner þeir)
* Third-person plural pronoun: they
** c. 1335-1361, William of Palerne (MS. King's College 13), folio 25, recto, lines 1414-1415; republished as W. W. Skeat, editor, The Romance of William of Palerne‎, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1867, →OCLC, page 52:but algate alyſaundꝛine · atte wille hem ſerued / þat non knew here · cunseile but þei þre oneBut Alexandrine would always help them whenever they wanted, so nobody would know their secret except for the three of them.
* (rare) Third-person singular pronoun: they
** c. 1335-1361, William of Palerne (MS. King's College 13), folio 36, recto, lines 2177-2179; republished as W. W. Skeat, editor, The Romance of William of Palerne‎, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1867, →OCLC, page 74:þan haſtely hiȝed eche wiȝt · on hoꝛſe ⁊ on fote / huntyng wiȝt houndes · alle heie wodes / til þei neyȝyed ſo neiȝh · to nymphe þe ſoþeThen each man went quickly, hunting with hounds amongst tall trees, on horse and on foot, until he came close enough to notice the truth.
* (demonstrative) those

##### Descendants

* English: they
* Scots: thay
* Yola: thye, thaye, thaay, thaaye, a

##### See also

| | | | nominative | accusative | dative | genitive | possessive |
| singular | 1st-person | 1st-person | I, ich, ik | me | me | min mi$^1$ | min |
| singular | 2nd-person | 2nd-person | þou | þe | þe | þin þi$^1$ | þin |
| singular | 3rd-person | m | he | him hine$^2$ | him | his | his hisen |
| singular | 3rd-person | f | sche, heo | hire heo | hire | hire | hire hires, hiren |
| singular | 3rd-person | n | hit | hit | hit him$^2$ | his, hit | — |
| dual$^3$ | 1st-person | 1st-person | wit | unk | unk | unker | unker |
| dual$^3$ | 2nd-person | 2nd-person | ȝit | inc | inc | inker | inker |
| plural | 1st-person | 1st-person | we | us, ous | us, ous | oure | oure oures, ouren |
| plural | 2nd-person$^4$ | 2nd-person$^4$ | ye | yow | yow | your | your youres, youren |
| plural | 3rd-person | inh. | he | hem he$^2$ | hem | here | here heres, heren |
| plural | 3rd-person | bor. | þei | þem, þeim | þem, þeim | þeir | þeir þeires, þeiren |
$^1$Used preconsonantally or before h. $^2$Early or dialectal. $^3$Dual pronouns are only sporadically found in Early Middle English; after that, they are replaced by plural forms. There are no third-person dual forms in Middle English. $^4$Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

##### References

* ↑ Brink, Daniel (1992) “Variation between <þ-> and <t-> in the Ormulum”, in Irmengard Rauch, Gerald F. Carr and Robert L. Kyes, editors, On Germanic Linguistics: Issues and Methods (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs; 68), De Gruyter Mouton, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 21-35.
* ↑ Thurber, Beverly A. (2011 February 15) “Voicing of Initial Interdental Fricatives in Early Middle English Function Words”, in Journal of Germanic Linguistics, volume 23, number 1, Cambridge University Press, →DOI, pages 65-81.
* ↑ “thei, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Etymology 2
#### Determiner

þei
* Alternative form of þi (“thy”)

### Etymology 3
#### Pronoun

þei
* (Northern) Alternative form of þe (“thee”)

### Etymology 4
#### Noun

þei (plural þeies)
* Alternative form of þigh (“thigh”)

### Etymology 5
#### Adverb

þei
* (Early Middle English) Alternative form of þouȝ (“though”)

#### Conjunction

þei
* (Early Middle English) Alternative form of þouȝ (“though”)

### Etymology 6
#### Numeral

þei
* Alternative form of tweyn (“two”)