einnhverr

Old Norse

Etymology

From einn +‎ hverr.

Pronoun

einnhverr

1. some, someone, something
2. (with a superlative) functions as an intensive

   ágætastr maðr einnhverr

Usage notes

In Old Norse grammars and dictionaries, various forms of einnhverr are often used as case markers, that is stand-ins for other words when discussing the grammatical properties of a verb or even a preposition and their use of case. The word's meaning evidently lends itself well to this purpose. Using the word as a stand-in case marker is, however, a modern invention used to describe Old Norse, and is not necessarily descriptive of its medieval use.

When used as such, the forms may be abbreviated. They are as follows:

e-m = einhverjum (dative marker for persons)

e-u = einhverju (dative marker for objects)

e-n = einhvern (accusative marker for persons)

e-t = eitthvert (accusative marker for objects)

e-s = einhvers (genitive marker for persons and objects)

Declension

    Declension of einnhverr

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	einnhverr	einhver	eitthvert
accusative	einhvern	einhverja	eitthvert
dative	einhverjum	einhverri	einhverju
genitive	einhvers	einhverrar	einhvers
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	einhverir	einhverjar	einhver
accusative	einhverja	einhverjar	einhver
dative	einhverjum	einhverjum	einhverjum
genitive	einhverra	einhverra	einhverra

Both its parts, einn and hverr, inflect individually. The first part, however, is generally an indeclinable ein- in all other forms than the masculine nominative singular and the neuter nominative and accusative singular. The last part is inflected more straight forward.

Descendants

• Icelandic: einhver
• Faroese: onkur
• Norwegian Nynorsk: einkvan
• Old Swedish: ēnhvar
  • Swedish: envar

References

• “einnhverr”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press