I (pronoun) explained

In Modern English, I is the singular, first-person pronoun.

Morphology

See also: Morphology (linguistics). In Standard Modern English, I has five distinct word forms:

• I: the nominative (subjective) form
  • I is the only pronoun form that is always capitalized in English. This practice became established in the late 15th century, though lowercase i was sometimes found as late as the 17th century.
• me: the accusative (objective, also called 'oblique'^[1]) form
• my: the dependent genitive (possessive) form
• mine: the independent genitive (possessive) form
• myself: the reflexive form

History

Old English had a first-person pronoun that inflected for four cases and three numbers. I originates from Old English (OE), which had in turn originated from the continuation of Proto-Germanic Germanic languages: ik, and Germanic languages: ek;^[2] the asterisk denotes an unattested form, but Germanic languages: ek was attested in the Elder Futhark inscriptions (in some cases notably showing the variant Germanic languages: eka; see also ek erilaz). Linguists assume Germanic languages: ik to have developed from the unstressed variant of Germanic languages: ek. Variants of were used in various English dialects up until the 1600s. The Proto-Germanic root came, in turn, from the Proto Indo-European language (PIE) *.

Singular! colspan="3"

Dual	Plural
	Early OE	Late OE	ME	Early	Late	ME	Early	Late	ME
Nominative
Accusative
Dative
Genitive

Old English and are from Proto-Germanic Germanic languages: meke (accusative) and Germanic languages: mes (dative).^[3] Mine is from Proto-Germanic Germanic languages: minaz,^[4] and my is a reduced form of mine.^[5] All of these are from PIE root *.

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.

• Subject: I'm here; me being here; my being there; I paid for myself to be here.
• Object: She saw me; She introduced him to me; He gave me the book; I saw myself in the mirror; It was a picture of me.
• Predicative complement: The only person there was me / I; I made her mine.
• Determiner: I met my friend.
• Adjunct: I fixed the problem myself.
• Modifier: the me generation

Coordinative constructions

See also: Between you and I. 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".

• "My husband and I wish you a merry Christmas."
• "Between you and me..."

In many dialects of informal English, the accusative is sometimes used when the pronoun is part of a coordinative subject construction, as in

• "Phil and me wish you a merry Christmas."

This is stigmatized but common in many 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.

• Relative clause modifier: the me I'd like to be; *me I'd like to be
• Determiner: the me I'd like to be; *the me
• Adjective phrase modifier: the real me
• Adverb phrase external modifier: Not even me

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:

!Form!Plain!Unstressed!Recording

I	(UK) /ʌɪ/ (US) /aɪ/
me	(UK) /miː/(US) /mi/	/mi/, /mɪ//mɪ/
my	(UK) /mʌɪ/(US) /maɪ/
mine	(UK) /mʌɪn/(US) /maɪn/
myself	(UK) /mʌɪˈsɛlf/(US) /maɪˈsɛlf/	/mᵻˈsɛlf//məˈsɛlf/

Bibliography

• Web site: subscription . Oxford English Dictionary Online. .
• Book: Fowler . H.W. . Butterfield . Jeremy . registration . Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage . 2015 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-966135-0.
• Book: Huddleston . Rodney . Rodney Huddleston . Pullum . Geoffrey . Geoffrey Pullum . registration . The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language . 2002 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge; New York . 0-521-43146-8.

• "Etymology of I". Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2010.
• "Etymology of Me". Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2010.
• Halleck, Elaine (editor). "Sum: Pronoun "I" again ". LINGUIST List 9.253., n.p., Web. 20 Feb. 1998.
• Jacobsen, Martin (editor). "Sum: Pronoun 'I' ". LINGUIST List 9.253., n.p., Web. 20 Feb. 1998.
• Mahoney, Nicole. "Language Change ". National Science Foundation. n.p. 12 July 2008. Web. 21 Dec. 2010
• Wells, Edward. "Further Elucidation on the Capitalization of 'I' in English". (a paper in progress). Lingforum.com. n.p., Web. 25 Dec. 2010

Further reading

• Book: Howe, Stephen . The personal pronouns in the Germanic languages: a study of personal pronoun morphology and change in the Germanic languages from the first records to the present day . 43 . Studia linguistica Germanica . Walter de Gruyter . 1996 . 3-11-014636-3.
• Book: Gaynesford, M. de . Robert Maximilian de Gaynesford . I: The Meaning of the First Person Term . Oxford . Oxford University Press . 2006 . 0-19-928782-1. .
• Book: Wales, Katie . Personal pronouns in present-day English . Studies in English language . Cambridge University Press . 1996 . 0-521-47102-8.

Notes and References

1. Book: The Cambridge history of the English Language: Volume III 1476–1776 . Cambridge University Press . 1999 . Lass . Roger . Cambridge.
2. Web site: i Origin and meaning of the name i . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210306111642/https://www.etymonline.com/word/i . Mar 6, 2021 . 2021-03-27 . Online Etymology Dictionary . en.
3. Web site: me Search . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015434/https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=me . Nov 12, 2020 . 2021-03-27 . Online Etymology Dictionary.
4. Web site: mine Origin and meaning of mine . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210305103154/https://www.etymonline.com/word/mine . 2021-03-05 . 2021-03-27 . Online Etymology Dictionary . en.
5. Web site: my Origin and meaning of my . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210305125111/https://www.etymonline.com/word/my . 2021-03-05 . 2021-03-27 . Online Etymology Dictionary . en.