I (pronoun)
In Modern English, I is the singular, first-person pronoun. Morphology. In Standard Modern English, "I" has five distinct word forms: History. Old English had a first person pronoun the inflected for four cases and three numbers. "I" originates from Old English (OE) "ic", which had in turn originated from the continuation of Proto-Germanic *"ik", and "ek"; The asterisk denotes an unattested form, but "ek" was attested in the Elder Futhark inscriptions (in some cases notably showing the variant "eka"; see also ek erilaz). Linguists assume "ik" to have developed from the unstressed variant of "ek". Variants  of "ic" were used in various English dialects up until the 1600s. The Proto-Germanic root came, in turn, from the Proto Indo-European language (PIE) *"eg-." <nowiki>*</nowiki>Early OE circa 700 CE, late, and ME Old English "me" and "mec" are from Proto-Germanic *"meke" (accusative) and *"mes" (dative). "Mine" is from Proto-Germanic *"minaz", and "my" is a reduced form of "mine". All of these are from PIE root *"me"-. Syntax. Functions. "I" can appear as a subject, object, determiner or predicative complement. The reflexive form also appears as an adjunct. me occasionally appears as a  modifier in a noun phrase. Coordinative constructions. The above applies when the pronoun stands alone as the subject or object. In some varieties of English (particularly in formal registers), those rules also apply in coordinative constructions such as "you and I". In some varieties of non-standard informal English, the accusative is sometimes used when the pronoun is part of a coordinative "subject" construction, as in This is stigmatized but common in many non-standard dialects. Dependents. Pronouns rarely take dependents, but it is possible for "me" to have many of the same kind of dependents as other noun phrases . Semantics. "I"'s referents are limited to the individual person speaking or writing, the first person. "I" is always definite and specific. Pronunciation. According to the OED, the following pronunciations are used: