spýja

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspiːja/

  Rhymes: -iːja

Etymology 1

From Old Norse spýja (compare Faroese spýggja, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish spy), from Proto-Germanic *spīwaną, whence also Dutch spuwen, German speien, English spew, Gothic 𐍃𐍀𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌽 (speiwan). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ptyēw- (“to spit, vomit”). Non-Germanic cognates include Old Armenian թուք (tʻukʻ), Persian تف (“spittle”), Ossetian ту (tu, “spittle”), Ancient Greek πτύω (ptúō, “I spit out”), Latin spuo, Old Church Slavonic пльвати (plĭvati) (Russian плевать (plevatʹ)) and Sanskrit ष्ठीवति (ṣṭhīvati, “to spit”).

Verb

spýja (strong verb, third-person singular past indicative spjó, third-person plural past indicative spjóu, supine spúið) or spýja (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative spúði, supine spúið)

1. to vomit
2. to spit out, make gush forth

Conjugation

Strong or (increasingly commonly) weak. May also be mixed, with the strong forms being retained mostly in the singular past indicative forms.

Etymology 2

Noun

spýja f (genitive singular spýju, nominative plural spýjur)

1. vomit
2. a thick shower of rain in windy conditions
3. a small avalanche

Declension

Declension of spýja (feminine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	spýja	spýjan	spýjur	spýjurnar
accusative	spýju	spýjuna	spýjur	spýjurnar
dative	spýju	spýjunni	spýjum	spýjunum
genitive	spýju	spýjunnar	spýja	spýjanna

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• *spía

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *spīwaną.

Verb

spýja (singular past indicative spjó, plural past indicative spjó, past participle spúinn)

1. to spew, to vomit [with dative]

   hon spjó bloði

   she threw up blood

Conjugation

Conjugation of spýja — active (strong class 2)

infinitive	spýja
present participle	spýjandi
past participle	spúinn
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	spý	spjó		spýja	spýa
2nd person singular	spýr	spjótt		spýir	spýir
3rd person singular	spýr	spjó		spýi	spýi
1st person plural	spýjum	spjóm		spýim	spýim
2nd person plural	spýið	spjóð		spýið	spýið
3rd person plural	spýja	spjó		spýi	spýi
imperative	present
2nd person singular	spý
1st person plural	spýjum
2nd person plural	spýið

Descendants

• Icelandic: spýja
• Faroese: spýggja
• Norwegian: spy
• Old Swedish: spȳia
  • Swedish: spy
• Old Danish: spȳ, spī
  • Danish: spy, spi
• Elfdalian: spaja
• Gutnish: spöi
• Scanian: spý, spí

Noun

spýja f (genitive spýju)

1. (uncountable) vomit

Declension

Declension of spýja (weak jōn-stem, singular only)

feminine	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	spýja	spýjan
accusative	spýju	spýjuna
dative	spýju	spýjunni
genitive	spýju	spýjunnar

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “spýja”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 401; also available at the Internet Archive