geyja

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse geyja.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈceija]

  Rhymes: -eiːja

Verb

geyja (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative geyjaði, supine geyjað) or
(archaic) geyja (strong verb, third-person singular past indicative gó, third-person plural past indicative góum, supine gáið)

1. (intransitive, literary) to bark

   Synonym: gelta

   • 1939, Gunnar Gunnarsson, Aðventa, 7th edition, Almenna bókafélagið, page 70:

     Hann hlaut víst að hafa sofið, því frammi við dyrnar gó Leó sem trylltur væri.

     He must have slept, for there by the door Leo was barking as if he were mad.

   • 1988, Úlfar Þormóðsson, Þrjár sólir svartar:

     Margir tugir manna æddu um dalinn öskrandi og veinandi, hestar frísandi, hundar geyjandi, auk þess unglingafjöld sem ekki lét sitt eftir liggja.

     Tens of men rushed through the valley, screaming and wailing, horses neighing, dogs barking, and a host of youths who were not to be outdone.

2. (transitive, obsolete) to mock, criticise

Conjugation

geyja – active voice (germynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að geyja
supine sagnbót		geyjað
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		geyjandi
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	geyja	geyjaði		geyi	geyjaði
	þú	geyjar	geyjaðir		geyir	geyjaðir
	hann, hún, það	geyjar	geyjaði		geyi	geyjaði
plural	við	geyjum	geyjuðum		geyjum	geyjuðum
	þið	geyið	geyjuðuð		geyið	geyjuðuð
	þeir, þær, þau	geyja	geyjuðu		geyi	geyjuðu
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	geyja (þú), geyjaðu
plural	þið	geyið (þið), geyiði1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

geyjast – mediopassive voice (miðmynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að geyjast
supine sagnbót		geyjast
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		geyjandist (rare; see appendix)
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	geyjast	geyjaðist		geyist	geyjaðist
	þú	geyjast	geyjaðist		geyist	geyjaðist
	hann, hún, það	geyjast	geyjaðist		geyist	geyjaðist
plural	við	geyjumst	geyjuðumst		geyjumst	geyjuðumst
	þið	geyist	geyjuðust		geyist	geyjuðust
	þeir, þær, þau	geyjast	geyjuðust		geyist	geyjuðust
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	geyjast (þú), geyjastu
plural	þið	geyist (þið), geyisti1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

or (archaic)

geyja – active voice (germynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að geyja
supine sagnbót		gáið
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		geyjandi
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	gey	gó		geyi	gæi
	þú	geyrð	góst		geyir	gæir
	hann, hún, það	geyr	gó		geyi	gæi
plural	við	geyjum	góum		geyjum	gæjum
	þið	geyið	góuð		geyið	gæjuð
	þeir, þær, þau	geyja	góu		geyi	gæju
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	gey (þú), geyðu
plural	þið	geyið (þið), geyiði1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

geyjast – mediopassive voice (miðmynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að geyjast
supine sagnbót		gáist
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		geyjandist (rare; see appendix)
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	geyst	góst		geyist	gæist
	þú	geyst	góst		geyist	gæist
	hann, hún, það	geyst	góst		geyist	gæist
plural	við	geyjumst	góumst		geyjumst	gæjumst
	þið	geyist	góust		geyist	gæjust
	þeir, þær, þau	geyjast	góust		geyist	gæjust
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	geyst (þú), geystu
plural	þið	geyist (þið), geyisti1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

Related terms

• gey n (“bark, barking”)
• gá f (“bark, barking”)

Further reading

• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2026), “geyja”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• “geyja”, in Ritmálssafn Orðabókar Háskólans [The Written Collection of the Lexicological Institute] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gawjaną (“to bark, yell”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewH- (“to call, invoke”).

Verb

geyja (singular past indicative gó, plural past indicative gó, past participle gáinn)

1. (intransitive) to bark
2. to bark, scoff at, decry [with dative]

   gest þú né geyj-a

   do not scoff at the guest

Conjugation

Conjugation of geyja — active (strong class 6)

infinitive	geyja
present participle	geyjandi
past participle	*gáinn
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	gey	gó		geyja	gœa
2nd person singular	geyr	gótt		geyir	gœir
3rd person singular	geyr	gó		geyi	gœi
1st person plural	geyjum	góm		geyim	gœim
2nd person plural	geyið	góð		geyið	gœið
3rd person plural	geyja	gó		geyi	gœi
imperative	present
2nd person singular	gey
1st person plural	geyjum
2nd person plural	geyið

Conjugation of geyja — mediopassive (strong class 6)

infinitive	geyjask
present participle	geyjandisk
past participle	*gáizk
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	geyjumk	gómk		geyjumk	gœumk
2nd person singular	geysk	gózk		geyisk	gœisk
3rd person singular	geysk	gósk		geyisk	gœisk
1st person plural	geyjumsk	gómsk		geyimsk	gœimsk
2nd person plural	geyizk	gózk		geyizk	gœizk
3rd person plural	geyjask	gósk		geyisk	gœisk
imperative	present
2nd person singular	geysk
1st person plural	geyjumsk
2nd person plural	geyizk

Derived terms

• gá (“barking”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: geyja
• Faroese: goyggja
• Norwegian Bokmål: gjø
• Norwegian Nynorsk: gøy
• Danish: gø

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “geyja”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive
• Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 1259