Definitions and meaning of my
my
Translingual
Etymology
Abbreviation of English Myanmar, formerly Burma, where Burmese is spoken.
Symbol
my
- (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Burmese.
See also
-
- Wiktionary’s coverage of Burmese terms
English
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- (stressed) enPR: mī IPA(key): /maɪ/
- (Canada, Dialectal) IPA(key): /mʌɪ/, [məi̯]
- (unstressed) IPA(key): /maɪ/, /mə/
- (UK, Ottawa Valley) IPA(key): /mɪ/, /mi/
- (Ireland, Liverpool, some speakers) IPA(key): /mi/
- Homophones: muh, me (some dialects)
- Rhymes: -aɪ
Etymology 1
From Middle English mi, my, apocopated form of min, myn, from Old English mīn (“my, mine”), from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz (“my, mine”, pron.) (possessive of *ek (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *méynos (“my; mine”).
Cognate with West Frisian myn (“my”), Afrikaans my (“my”), Dutch mijn (“my”), German mein (“my”), Swedish min (“my”). More at me.
Determiner
my
- First-person singular possessive determiner. See Appendix:Possessive#English.
- Belonging to me.
- I can't find my book.
- Associated with me.
- My seat at the restaurant was uncomfortable.
- Don't you know my name?
- I recognised him because he had attended my school.
- Related to me.
- My parents won't let me go out tonight.
- In the possession of me.
- I have to take my books back to the library soon.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
See also
Etymology 2
An abbreviation of an oath such as my word or my Lord
Interjection
my
- Used to express surprise, shock or amazement.
Derived terms
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Dutch mij.
Pronoun
my (subject ek)
- me (object)
Alternative forms
- mij (obsolete)
- mijn (obsolete, rare)
See also
Etymology 2
From Dutch mijn.
Determiner
my
- my; of me
Alternative forms
- mij (obsolete)
- mijn (obsolete)
See also
Cameroon Pidgin
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Determiner
my
- 1st person singular possessive determiner
See also
Chinese Pidgin English
Etymology
From English my.
Pronoun
my
- I (subject pronoun)
- Synonyms: I, me
- me (object pronoun)
- Synonym: me
- my (possessive pronoun)
Cornish
Alternative forms
- (Revived Late Cornish) me
Etymology
From Proto-Brythonic *mi, from Proto-Celtic *mī. Cognate with Breton me, Irish mé, Manx mee, Scottish Gaelic mi, and Welsh mi.
Pronoun
my
- I, me
See also
Mutation
Czech
Etymology
Inherited from Old Czech my, from Proto-Slavic *my, from Proto-Indo-European *wéy.
Pronunciation
Pronoun
my
- we
Declension
Related terms
Further reading
- “my”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
- “my”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
- “my”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025
Danish
Noun
my n (singular definite myet, plural indefinite myer)
- The Greek letter μ (mu)
Declension
Noun
my c
- micron
Synonyms
References
- “my” in Den Danske Ordbog
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /mɛi̯/
-
- Rhymes: -ɛi̯
- Homophone: mei
Pronoun
my
- obsolete spelling of mij
Usage notes
- The spelling my was deprecated in a Dutch spelling reform.
Egyptian
Etymology
From mj (“like”) + -j (adverbializing suffix).
Pronunciation
- (modern Egyptological) IPA(key): /miː/
- Conventional anglicization: my
Adverb
- likewise
- accordingly
References
- James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 86.
Lower Sorbian
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *my, from Proto-Indo-European *nos.
Pronoun
my pl
- we
Declension
Manx
Etymology 1
From Old Irish má, from Proto-Celtic *mā, *ma (compare Cornish and Breton mar), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂.
Pronunciation
Conjunction
my
- if
Usage notes
Counterfactual conditional questions take dy.
Etymology 2
Inherited from Old Irish mo (“my”)
Pronunciation
Determiner
my (triggers lenition)
- my
References
Middle English
Determiner
my (subjective pronoun I)
- alternative form of mi
Old Czech
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *my.
Pronunciation
-
- IPA(key): (13th CE) /ˈmɨ/
- IPA(key): (15th CE) /ˈmi/
Pronoun
my
- we (first person plural)
Declension
Descendants
References
- Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “my”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění
Old Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *my. First attested in the 14th century.
Pronunciation
-
- IPA(key): (10th–15th CE) /mi/
- IPA(key): (15th CE) /mi/
Pronoun
my
- we; first person plural
- we; I royal first person plural
Declension
Descendants
References
- B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “my, ny (?)”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
Polish
Pronunciation
-
- Rhymes: -ɘ
- Syllabification: my
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old Polish my.
Pronoun
my
- we; first person plural
- we; I royal first person plural
- we; I editorial first person plural
Declension
See also
Etymology 2
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek μῦ (mû), from Phoenician 𐤌 (m /mēm/).
Alternative forms
Noun
my n (indeclinable)
- mu (Greek letter Μ, μ)
Trivia
According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), my is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 88 times in scientific texts, 30 times in news, 138 times in essays, 200 times in fiction, and 419 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 875 times, making it the 49th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.
References
Further reading
- my in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- my in Polish dictionaries at PWN
- Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “my”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
- “MY”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 2021 June 22
- Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “my”, in Słownik języka polskiego
- Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “my”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
- J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “my”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page 1081
Portuguese
Pronoun
my
- obsolete form of mim
Scots
Alternative forms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English mi, my, apocopated form of min, myn, from Old English mīn (“my, mine”), from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz (“my, mine”, pron.) (possessive of *ek (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *méynos (“my; mine”).
Determiner
my
- my
- Synonym: mine
See also
References
- “my, possess. pron.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 23 May 2024, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.
- “my, poss. adj.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 23 May 2024, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
Silesian
Etymology
Inherited from Old Polish my.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmɪ/
-
- Rhymes: -ɪ
- Syllabification: my
Pronoun
my
- first-person plural pronoun; we
- Coordinate term: (singular) jŏ
Declension
Further reading
Slovak
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *my, from Proto-Indo-European *nos.
Pronunciation
Pronoun
my
- we
Declension
Related terms
Further reading
- “my”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025
Swedish
Noun
my n
- The Greek letter μ (mu)
Upper Sorbian
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *my, from Proto-Indo-European *wéy.
Pronoun
my
- we
Declension
Further reading
West Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian mī, from Proto-Germanic *miz.
Pronunciation
- (Clay) IPA(key): /mɛi̯/
- (Wood) IPA(key): /mi/
Pronoun
my
- object of ik
Source: wiktionary.org