FromDutchzijn,z'n(“his, its”). An Afrikaans innovation is the use ofse regardless of the number or gender of the possessor, which may be due to a merger with the Dutch genitive suffix-s as well as, perhaps, the adjective suffix-s, -sch.
Üjiyediin Chuluu (Chaolu Wu),Introduction, Grammar, and Sample Sentences for Baoan,SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS (Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA), November 1994
Henry G. Schwarz,The Minorities of Northern China: A Survey (1984), page 140: 'water' Dauros
-se is the full (plena) form of the pronoun. It is normally used after verbs ending with aconsonant or ⟨u⟩, or between some adverbs/pronouns and a verb. In some varieties of Catalan (Balearic/Valencian) it can also occur in sentence-initial position.
The use ofse and other direct personal pronouns can indicate thepassive in Catalan.
Used for passive constructions with transitive verbs and undetermined agent;one
2000, Domingo Frades Gaspar,Vamus a falal: Notas pâ coñocel y platical en nosa fala, Editora regional da Extremadura, Theme II, Chapter 2: Recunquista:
Non poemos analizar con pormenoris estis siglos, pero tampocose debi toleral que, sin fundamentus,se poña en duda algo que a Historia documentá nos lega sobre nossa terra.
We can’t thoroughly analyse these centuries, butone mustn’t tolerate that, unfoundedly, something documented history tells us about our land be questioned [bysomeone].
FromProto-Finnic*se, fromProto-Uralic*śe. For plural forms, see etymology ofne. The variation in inflectional stems (se-,si-,sii-) dates back to at least Late Proto-Finnic; see the Proto-Finnic entry for more.
Bothtuo andse can be translated as "that"; seetuo for more information on the difference between the two.
In colloquial and dialectal Finnish,se is the usual and neutral personal pronoun in the third person singular, and its standard Finnish counterparthän is restricted to certain particular uses. Usingse of a person carries no negative connotation.
Due to the influence of Germanic languages, and nowadays especially to that of English,se may often be used as a kind of definite article in colloquial Finnish, though in standard Finnish, where word order expresses whether something is definite or indefinite, this colloquial usage is ungrammatical. (Compare the usage ofyksi.)
(standard)
Mies tuli luokseni. ―The man came to me.
Luokseni tulimies. ―A man came to me.
(colloquial)
Se mies tuli mun luokse. ―The man came to me.
Yks mies tuli mun luokse. ―A man came to me.
When used independently as adverbs, the external case formssillä,siltä andsille are generally only used in abstract or possessive meanings; for locations, the corresponding adverbssiellä,sieltä andsinne are used instead.
Tämä, tuo vai se?.Kielikello (4/2001). An article analyzing the usage and differences between the Finnish demonstrative pronounstämä,tuo andse. (in Finnish)
“se”, inKielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki:Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland),2004–, retrieved3 July 2023
1 The disjunctive (tonic) forms are also used after an explicit preposition (de/d’,à,pour,chez,dans,vers,sur,sous, ...), instead the accusative, dative, genitive, locative, or reflexive forms, where a preposition is implied. 2Il is also used as an impersonal nominative-only pronoun. 3On can also function as a first person plural (although agreeing with third person singular verb forms). 4 The nominal indeterminate formce (demonstrative) can also be used with the auxiliary verbêtre as a plural, instead of the proximal or distal gendered forms. 5 The reflexive third person singular forms (se ors’) for accusative or dative are also used as third person plural reflexive. 6Vous is also used as the polite singular form, in which case the plural disjunctive tonicvous-mêmes becomes singularvous-même. 7Ils,eux andeux-mêmes are also used when a group has a mixture of masculine and feminine members.
(not … either, not even):se in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh:A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.
([folksy, informal] alternative form ofsem):se, redirecting tosem in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh:A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.
1936, N. A. Iljin and V. I. Junus,Bukvari iƶoroin șkouluja vart, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page63:
Linnuille höösiihe kagraa siputtiit.
They sprinkled oatsonto it for the birds.
1936, L. G. Terehova, V. G. Erdeli, translated by Mihailov and P. I. Maksimov,Geografia: oppikirja iƶoroin alkușkoulun kolmatta klaassaa vart (ensimäine osa) [Geography: textbook for Ingrian elementary school third grade (first part)], Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-Pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 7:
Se andneet areanaphoric: That is to say they refer to something previously mentioned (or soon afterwards mentioned) in the conversation. In contrast,too andnoo aredeictic, and thus refer to physical entities.
Although Junus (1936; p. 99) describessen as the accusative andsenen as the genitive, in practice,sen is often used as a short form of the genitive as well.
In the Soikkola dialect, the functions oftoo(“that”) have merged intose.
(reflexive, reciprocal, oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves, each other, one another): Many verbs bear a reflexive pronoun by default.Se must be replaced byme,te, etc., according to the subject.
Third person pronominal forms used as formal terms of address to refer to second person subjects (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead.
2
Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive.
Used to express a conditional with the implicit hope on the part of the speaker that something does or does not happen. Always followed by the subjunctive.
Bot wen im si uol iip a piipl fram di Farisii an Sadyusii gruup a kom fi im baptaiz dem, im se tu demse, “Unu siniek pikni unu! A uu waan unu fi ron we fram di jojment we a kom?
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, hesaid to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bot wen im ierse a Erad pikni, Arkelos, tek uova an did a ruul Judiya, im kech im fried an neehn waahn go de-so. An kaa Gad did waan im aaf iina wan jriim, im lef go Gyalalii insted.
But when he heardthat Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.
(literally, “But when he heardthat Herod's child Archelaus took over and was ruling Judea[…])”)
En 1923,se modernizo la identidad de las personas, pero a unos ermanos de mi Papu le metieron en el nufus la alkunya Rodrik, i a la otra mitad de la famiya, la alkunya Rodriges.
People’s identities were modernised in 1923, but like some of my grandfather’s brothers they put him on the Rodrik surname identity card, and as for my family’s other half, the surname Rodriges.
Tiit-Rein Viitso; Valts Ernštreits (2012–2013), “se”, inLīvõkīel-ēstikīel-lețkīel sõnārōntõz [Livonian-Estonian-Latvian Dictionary][9] (in Estonian and Latvian), Tartu, Rīga: Tartu Ülikool, Latviešu valodas aģentūra
Sometimes thought to have been inherited from Arabicسَ(sa), fromسَوْفَ(sawfa). However, it is more likely that the similarity is just coincidental and that Maltesese(r) is merely a shortened form ofsejjer. It is also possibleسَ(sa) influenced the shortening or at least the loss of the r.
Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the criticaltonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Whether to translate ashimself,herself,oneself,itself,themselves oreach other depends on the gender (male, female or none) and number (singular or plural).
Usually becomess' before a vowel. In older manuscripts, it becomess- with noapostrophe.
AIS:Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] –map 80: “si chiama” – onnavigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
As a second-class pronoun,se is used as the subject of a sentence when its verb is a second-class one (those verbs are sometimes referred to as adjectives). The personal pronounse is also used when governed by any postposition with the exception ofarama andsupé. Finally,se is used as a possessive pronoun as well.
NAVARRO, Eduardo de Almeida (2016)Curso de língua geral (nheengatu ou tupi moderno): a língua das origens da civilização amazônica, 2nd edition,→ISBN, pages 11 and 108
Đa was on þā tīd Æðelbyrht cyning hāten on Centrīċe, ⁊ mihtiġ: hē hæfde rīċe ōð ġemæro Humbre strēames,sē tōsċēadeð sūðfolce Angelþēode ⁊ nordfolc.
At that time the powerful Athelbert was king of the kingdom of Kent; his authority extended to the boundary of the Humber,which divides the southern English from the northern English.
The word "the" was used somewhat more sparingly in Old English than in the modern language. One reason is, English had only recently developed a word for "the" (sē previously only meant "that"), leaving many nouns and phrases which had a definitemeaning but which people continued to use without a definite article out of custom. Examples of words which usually went without the word "the" include:
Names of peoples, such asEngle(“the Angles”),Seaxan(“the Saxons”), andCrēcas(“the Greeks”).Ġelīefst þū þætDene magon bēon oferswīðde? (“Do you believethe Danes can be defeated?”).
All river names.OnTemese flēat ān sċip (“A boat was floating onthe Thames”).
A few nouns denoting types of locations, namelysǣ(“the sea”),wudu(“the woods”), andeorþe(“the ground”).Þū fēolle oneorðan and slōge þīn hēafod (“You fell onthe ground and hit your head”). Note thateorþewas often used with a definite article when it meant "the Earth."
"the world," whether expressed withweorold ormiddanġeard.Iċ eom æt hām on ealreweorolde, þǣr þǣr sind wolcnu and fuglas and mennisċe tēaras (“I feel at home inthe wholeworld, where there are clouds and birds and human tears”).
A couple of abstract concepts, namelysōþ(“the truth”) andǣ(“the law”).Iċ seċġe ēowsōþ, þæt iċ swerie (“I'm telling all of youthe truth, I swear”).
morgen(“the morning”) andǣfen(“the evening”).Iċ ārās on lætnemorgen and ēode niðer (“I got up late inthe morning and went downstairs”).
The four seasons,lencten(“spring”),sumor(“summer”),hærfest(“fall”), andwinter(“winter”).Onsumore hit biþ wearm and onwintra ċeald (“Inthe summer it's warm and inthe winter it's cold”).
forþġewitennes(“the past”),andweardnes(“the present”), andtōweardnes(“the future”).Þā þeforðġewitennesse ġemunan ne magon, hīe bēoþ ġeniðrode hīe tō ġeedlǣċenne (“Those who cannot rememberthe past are condemned to repeat it”).
formasīþ (“the first time”),ōþersīþ (“the second time”), etc.Hwæt þōhtest þū þā þū mēforman sīðe ġemēttest? (“What did you think when you met me forthe first time?”).
þīestra (“the dark”).Iċ āwēox, ac iċ nǣfre ne ġeswāc mēþīestra tō ondrǣdenne (“I grew up, but I never stopped being scared ofthe dark”).
Genitive phrasescould include the word "the" before the head noun, but most often did not. Instead, genitive phrases were commonly formed like possessive phrases in modern English, with the genitive noun preceding the head noun ("John's car," not "the car of John"). Thus “the fall of Rome” wasRōme hryre, literally “Rome's fall,” and “the god of fire” wasfȳres god, literally “fire's god.”
Eſte herodes Murio mala muerte deuẏno gafo de pues por la grãt pudor q̃ ſalẏo del ⁊ nõ lo podie ſofrir. el Miſmoſe mato cõ .j. guchiello.
This Herod died a bad death. He became leprous [and] then, because of the great shame which he displayed and could not bear, he killedhimself with a knife.
Used to convey the meaning of the English passive voice in the third person.
Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “se”, inPalula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)[12], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives,→ISBN
Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “se”, inPalula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)[13], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives,→ISBN
Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “se”, inPalula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)[14], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives,→ISBN
Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “se”, inPalula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)[15], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives,→ISBN
Aleksander Saloni (1899), “se”, in “Lud wiejski w okolicy Przeworska”, in M. Arct, E. Lubowski, editors,Wisła : miesięcznik gieograficzno-etnograficzny (in Polish), volume13, Warsaw: Artur Gruszecki, page244
Karol Mátyás (1891), “se”, in “Słowniczek gwary ludu zamieszkującego wschodnio-południową najbliższą okolicę Nowego Sącza”, inSprawozdania Komisyi Językowej Akademii Umiejętności (in Polish), volume 4, Kraków: Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, page329
When the verb precedesse, a hyphen must be used. In Portugal post-verbse is more common, while in Brazil it usually precedes the verb.
(reflexive and reciprocal): Many verb senses take a reflexive pronoun by default; they are calledpronominal verbs.se must be replaced byme,te, etc. according to the subject.
Many ergative English verbs are translated by a bare verb for transitive usage and a pronominal one for intransitive:
O professoracalmou os alunos.
The teachercalmed the studentsdown.
O professoracalmou-se.
The teachercalmed down.
(impersonal pronominal verb, passivizing particle):se may also have amodal sense (e.g. advice, duty, or prohibition):
É assim quese lida com um cliente chato.
This is how an annoying customershould be dealt with.
2015, Atchim e Espirro, “Não Atire o Pau no Gato [Don't Throw the Stick at the Cat]”, in Luccas Fantinato Trevisani (lyrics),Cantigas de Roda [Nursery Rhymes][16]:
Não atire o pau no ga-to-to / Porque is-so-so nãose faz, faz, faz
Don't throw the stick at the cat, cat, cat / Because thatmust, must not be done, done, done
Tu me devolva o que tirou daqui / Que o meu peito se abre e desata os nós /Se enfim, você um dia resolver mudar / Tirar meu pobre coração do altar
Give me back what you took from here / 'Cause my chest will open and untie the knots /If you finally decide to change / Take my poor heart from the altar
(by extension,impersonal)Used to convey the meaning of the Englishpassive voice in the third person where the impersonal subject does the verb unto itself
Kakose zoveš? ―What's your name? (literally, “What do you call yourself?”)
Kakose to kaže na španjolskom? ―How is that said in Spanish? / How do you say that in Spanish? (literally, “How does it say itself in Spanish?”)
Ovdjese govori španjolski ―Spanish is spoken here (literally, “Spanish speaks itself here.”)
Svjetska prvenstvase igraju ljeti. ―World Cups are played during the summer. (literally, “World Cups play themselves during the summer.”)
Manuel Seco; Olimpia Andrés; Gabino Ramos (3 August 2023), “se”, inDiccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA [BBVA Foundation]
Perhaps an accusative form of*sim(“pig”), fromProto-Italic*sūs, fromProto-Indo-European*suH-. If this is true, the term would be a cognate withLatinsūs andUmbriansim. This interpretation has been criticized for being phonologically improbable as the letter "e" may not have been likely to represent the sound "/iː/."
2022, Blanca María Prósper, “The Tabula Veliterna: a sacred law from Central Italy”, inRivista Italiana di Linguistica e dialettologia[21], number XXIV (quotation in English; overall work in English), pages10-11:
Note: This amalgamation of terms comes from a number of different academic papers focused on the unique varieties and languages spoken in the Yoruboid dialectal continuum which extends from eastern Togo to southern Nigeria. The terms for spoken varieties, now deemed dialects of Yorùbá in Nigeria (i.e. Southeast Yorùbá, Northwest Yorùbá, Central Yorùbá, and Northeast Yorùbá), have converged with those of Standard Yorùbá leading to the creation of what can be labeled Common Yorùbá (Funṣọ Akere, 1977). It can be assumed that the Standard Yorùbá term can also be used in most Nigerian varieties alongside native terms, especially amongst younger speakers. This does not apply to the other Nigerian Yoruboid languages of Ìṣẹkírì and Olùkùmi, nor the Èdè Languages of Benin and Togo.
