Emily Dickinson Lexicon

I, pron. [Sax. ic; Goth. and D. ik; G. ich; Sw. jag; Dan. jeg; Gr. εγω; L. ego; Port. eu; Sp. yo; It. io; Fr. je; Sans. agam. In Armoric me is the nominative; so W. mi, Fr. moi, Hindoo, me. Either ego is contracted from mego, or I and me are from different roots. It is certain that me is contracted from meg or mig. See Me.]

The pronoun of the first person; the word which expresses one's self, or that by which a speaker or writer denotes himself. It is only the nominative case of the pronoun; in the other cases we use me. I am attached to study; study delights me. We often hear in popular language the phrase it is me, which is now considered to be ungrammatical, for it is I. But the phrase may have come down to us from the use of the Welsh mi, or from the French use of the phrase c'est moi. In the plural we use we, and us, which appear to be words radically distinct from I. Johnson observes that Shakspeare uses I for ay or yes. In this he is not followed, and the use is incorrect.