What exactly does "brother mine" mean? Is it the same as "my brother"?
As far as I know "brother" is a noun and "mine" is a pronoun, so it doesn't make much sense to me why one can precede the other.
2 Answers
It means "my brother".
It's an archaic formation; once standard English, but now only used poetically, especially in a few stock phrases (of which "brother mine" is perhaps the most common).
Comparably, to use mine in this sense before the noun is also archaic and now only used poetically, especially in a few stock phrases, of which "mine host" is perhaps the most common.
answered Feb 14, 2014 at 16:22
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@Jon Hanna - the example of 'mine host' you mention is an example of what used to be a standard - albeit archaic now - use of 'mine' rather than 'my' before an 'h' or a vowel sound, eg 'Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord'. Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 16:31
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2@d'alar'cop no, in Old English "[noun] mine" was perfectly standard, and as late as when Shakespeare used "For doating, not for louing, pupill mine" it was still perfectly normal. It later mostly died out, but there is no elided of. Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 16:33
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1@LeonConrad and that in turn a retention of what used to be a standard use of mine before any noun, e.g. "At that daye shall ye axe in myne name." from Tyndale's translation of John 16:26, it just lasted longer before vowels due to being particularly euphonious in such positions. Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 16:36
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1Would mine eyes not be more common than mine host? I don't think I've ever used the latter, but “Do mine eyes/ears deceive me?” is relatively common, even in colloquial speech. Commented Feb 15, 2014 at 0:49
Think of it as a contraction of 'brother [of] mine'.
answered Feb 14, 2014 at 16:29
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1Could be a throwback to Latin - frater meus?... also maybe German - mein Brueder? Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 16:30
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1You could think of it that way, but why not just learn that it was once used and now mostly isn't? Thinking of it as a contraction serves the would-be expert poorly, because it's incorrect, and the novice just as poorly as it would lead them to use the formation freely when it should be reserved for cases where archaic formations work better (i.e. almost never). Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 16:38
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1@d'alar'cop it would be related to mein Brueder, in that it's cognate with it and both mein and mine share a common root, but it goes back to the very beginnings of English, and only died out in the modern period. Commented Feb 14, 2014 at 16:49
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It would be more directly related to (also archaic) Bruder mein, anyway. Of the Germanic languages, Icelandic, Faeroese, and Norwegian still use the X mine construction regularly—it is archaic and/or poetic everywhere else. Commented Feb 15, 2014 at 0:51
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1Brother of Mine means that he is one of my brothers. While he is my brother may imply that he is my only brother. Commented Sep 10, 2017 at 9:49