# 'איני\אינני וכו



## trigel

Is there a register difference between איני\אינני, אינו\איננו\ אינה\איננה?


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## anipo

I don't think there is a great difference in register. Maybe the shorter "version" is a little bit higher.


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## trigel

It does seem איני has a slightly more assertive edge than אינני which is more "calm". Can native speakers corroborate?


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## tFighterPilot

We can start with the fact that none of which is actually used in spoken Hebrew. Personally when I write any of them it's always the shorter versions.


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## Tararam

Well, they aren't used in everyday conversations, but you do hear them on TV and on the radio (mostly interviews, and by anchormen or politicians.) As for the register, I too would say "איני" is slightly (if any) higher. Don't know why.


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## Ali Smith

I think איננו ("he is not") is avoided because it sounds like "we are not", which is pronounced and written exactly the same way. That's why native speakers prefer אינו for "he is not".
I think איננה and אינה are equally common.
I don't know if אינני is more common than איני.


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## Drink

I'm not sure of they're found in the Bible, which usually has איננו, איננה, אינני instead, but they are certainly found at least as early as Mishnaic Hebrew.


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## shalom00

According to Even-Shoshan's Bible Concordance, the forms איני, אינו, אינה do not appear in the Bible.
The forms that do appear are אינני, אינך, איננו, איננה, אינכם, אינם, אינמו.


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## Drink

Got it. So they don't occur in the Bible. But they are prevalent in the Mishnah.


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## Abaye

The אינו forms appear everywhere in the Mishnah. In Modern Hebrew both the longer and shorter form are regarded as somewhat high register (except of idioms etc. where they are natural), I don't know if we can take any of them as more high register than the other.


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