Grammar Crumbs: Articles and Body Parts

Grammar quirk: Valthungian has two definite articles – his and sā – which are inherited from the Germanic proximal and medial demonstratives, *hiz and *sa, respectively. Sā is usually the default (as became the case in most Germanic languages), but you can use his if your “the” feels more “this-y” than “that-y.”

However, when referring to personal body parts, always use his for your own and sā for others’.

E.g. ‘my heart’ is always hit þreta mīna – never þat þreta mīna; conversely, you would never say hit þreta þīna – always þat.

Some other useful body parts:

	“mine”	“yours”
hair:	his hast mīna	sā hast þīna
head:	hit hǭviþ mīna	þat hǭviþ þīna
brain:	hit þrežne mīna	þat þrežne þīna
eyes:	hīž·ǭgnas mīnan	þ·ōgnas þīnan
nose:	hīža nasa mīna	sō nasa þīna
ears:	hīža hǭsana mīnan	þō hǭsana þīnan
mouth:	his munþs mīna	sā munþs þīna
tongue:	hīža tunga mīna	sō tunga þīna
teeth:	hīs tynþis mīnans	þǣ tynþis þīnans
throat:	his þlas mīna	sā þlas þīna
neck:	his þnaka mīna	sā þnaka þīna
arm:	his rams mīna	sā rams þīna
hand:	hīža handus mīna	sō handus þīna
fingers:	hīs fingras mīnans	þǣ fingras þīnans
nail:	his naglas mīna	sā naglas þīna
chest:	his brust mīna	sā brust þīna
heart:	hit þreta mīna	þat þreta þīna
lungs:	hīža lungna mīnan	þō lungna þīnan
stomach:	his maga mīna	sā maga þīna
leg:	hīž·anke mīna	sō anke þīna
knee:	hit knio mīna	þat knio þīna
shin:	hīža skina mīna	sō skina þīna
calf:	his waþua mīna	sā waþua þīna
ankle:	his anklas mīna	s·ānklas þīna
feet:	hīs fœučis mīnans	þǣ fœučis þīnans