זיי
See also: זײַ
Yiddish
editEtymology
editProbably from Middle High German siu, a byform of sie (“she, they”), whence Yiddish זי (zi, “she”). Originally siu was nominative feminine and plural neuter, while sie was accusative feminine and plural masculine/feminine. This distinction was lost altogether in Standard German. However, systems that have made sie the feminine form and siu the plural form do exist in certain varieties of Bavarian. The Yiddish outcome of siu should actually be *zay rather than zey, but minor phonetic deviations are not unusual in function words.
Pronunciation
editPronoun
editזיי • (zey)
- they (third-person plural subject pronoun)
- dative/accusative of זיי (zey); them, to them
Verb
editזיי • (zay)
- (nonstandard) Unpointed form of זײַ (zay).
See also
editYiddish personal pronouns
| person | singular | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd m | 3rd f | 3rd n | |
| nominative | איך (ikh) | דו (du) | ער (er) | זי (zi) | עס (es) |
| dative | מיר (mir) | דיר (dir) | אים (im) | איר (ir) | אים (im) |
| accusative | מיך (mikh) | דיך (dikh) | אים (im) | זי (zi) | עס (es) |
| person | plural | ||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |||
| nominative | מיר (mir) | איר (ir) | זיי (zey) | ||
| dative | אונדז (undz) | אײַך (aykh) | זיי (zey) | ||
| accusative | אונדז (undz) | אײַך (aykh) | זיי (zey) | ||
| See also the possessive pronouns. | |||||