Lífveru

Lífveru is a grammatical form of the Icelandic noun lífvera, which means a life form or organism. In standard Icelandic, lífvera is the singular nominative form, lífverur is the plural nominative, and lífveru is the accusative or dative singular form. As a result, lífveru is not typically treated as a separate lexical entry; rather, it appears as the case-inflected form of lífvera in sentences where the creature is the direct object or the indirect object.

Etymology and form

The word lífvera is built from líf (life) and vera (to be, to exist; a being or creature in this context). The inflection into lífveru follows Icelandic grammar patterns for feminine a-stem nouns, yielding the accusative/dative singular form lífveru, depending on sentence role.

Usage

In everyday and scientific Icelandic, lífverur is used to refer to life forms collectively (plants, animals, fungi, microorganisms). Lífveru appears only as a case form within a sentence, for example as the object of a verb or after a preposition requiring the dative or accusative case. Examples include: Ég rannsaka lífveru í sýni (I examined a life form in the sample) and Rökin gegn lífveru voru væntanleg (The arguments against the life form were expected).

Context and scope

Lífverur encompasses all living beings, from microscopic organisms to large multicellular life. In biology discussions, Icelandic texts typically prefer lífvera (singular) and lífverur (plural) when naming life forms in general, while lífveru is encountered within syntactic structures requiring the accusative or dative case.

See also

Lífvera, lífverur, líffræði.