Breakdown of Nemandinn saknar móðurmáls síns.
nemandinn
the student
sinn
his/her/their own (sinn, sína, sitt)
sakna
to miss (feel longing for)
móðurmálið
the mother tongue
Questions & Answers about Nemandinn saknar móðurmáls síns.
Why do we use síns here instead of hans?
Síns is the genitive form of the reflexive possessive pronoun sinn (meaning one's own). We use it because the student is missing his own mother tongue. If we used hans (his), it would mean he misses somebody else's mother tongue.
Why is the word for mother tongue in the genitive case (móðurmáls)?
This is because of the verb sakna (to miss). In Icelandic, sakna always forces the object you are missing to be in the genitive case. So móðurmál becomes móðurmáls.
Why does the reflexive pronoun take the form síns in this sentence?
Reflexive possessive pronouns like sinn must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they belong to. Because sakna forces móðurmál into the genitive case, the pronoun must match. Since móðurmáls is a neuter, singular noun in the genitive case, sinn takes the neuter singular genitive form, which is síns.
How is the compound word móðurmál formed?
It is formed from móður (the genitive form of móðir, meaning mother) and mál (meaning language or speech). Put together, it literally means mother's language.