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English Plural Demonstrative Forms Source Replaced Native Pronoun

正面 22.they
英 [ðeɪ]美 [ðe]

背面
释义:
pron. 他们;它们;她们
例句:
1. They have maintained their optimism in the face of desolating subjugation.面对遭征服的悲惨命运,他们保持了乐观的态度。

1. 属格;限定,用of右边的内容去限定of左边的事物。2. of就起一个限定作用。3. 后接of与不接of的区别就在于是否需要进一步限定前面的事物。
they 他们来自中古英语 they,thei,来自古诺斯语 their,来自 Proto-Germanic*thai,复数指示代词,那些的, 来自 PIE*to,指示代词,词源同 this,that.
theythey: [12] Like their and them, they was borrowed from Old Norse. Its source was their, the plural form of the demonstrative adjective sá, and it replaced the native Old English pronoun hīe.=> their, themthey (pron.)c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source (Old Norse þeir, Old Danish, Old Swedish þer, þair), originally masculine plural demonstrative pronoun, from Proto-Germanic *thai, nominative plural pronoun, from PIE *to-, demonstrative pronoun (see that). Gradually replaced Old English hi, hie, plurals of he, heo "she," hit "it" by c. 1400. Colloquial use for "anonymous people in authority" is attested from 1886. They say for "it is said" is in Milton. The most important importation of this kind [from Scandinavian to English] was that of the pronomial forms they, them and their, which entered readily into the system of English pronouns beginning with the same sound (the, that, this) and were felt to be more distinct than the old native forms which they supplanted. Indeed these were liable to constant confusion with some forms of the singular number (he, him, her) after the vowels has become obscured, so that he and hie, him and heom, her (hire) and heora could no longer be kept easily apart. [Jespersen, "Growth and Structure of the English Language"]."

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