они

• онѣ́ (oně́) (Pre-reform orthography (1918)) (feminine only, not masculine or neuter)

From Old East Slavic они (oni), from Proto-Slavic *onъ.

• IPA^(key): [ɐˈnʲi]

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• Rhymes: -i

они́ • (oní)

1. they (third-person plural pronoun)

• An н is prefixed to any third-person pronoun in an oblique case whenever a preposition that directly governs it is immediately in front of it: от неё (ot nejó) (from her), на нём (na njóm) (on him), у них (u nix) (they have), к нему́ (k nemú) (to him), с не́ю (s néju) (with her).
• This comes from Russian prepositions such as сън (sŭn, "with", cf. Greek σύν (σύν), Latin cum), that originally ended in -н and governed oblique cases. Since the prepositions and the pronouns occurred together so often, it was easy to lose track of which word the final -н belonged to, and the н was reinterpreted as part of the pronouns (Old English an, in the same way, lost its -n except before vowels, and sometimes gave it to the following word, as in English adder from Old English nædre), so that сън и́ми became modern с ни́ми (s ními), and this new rule was extended to all prepositions governing any third-person pronoun.
• That if the preposition does not directly govern его́, её, их (jevó, jejó, ix) (i.e., when they are possessive pronouns), then no н- is inserted: у его́ бра́та (u jevó bráta) (at his brother’s), о её ма́тери (o jejó máteri) (about her mother), в их ко́мнате (v ix kómnate) (in their room).

• свой (svoj)

• IPA^(key): /ǒni/
• Hyphenation: о‧ни

о̀ни (Latin spelling òni)

1. they (nominative plural of о̑н (“he”))