Valthungian: Difference between revisions

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|-
|-
|| ||align="right"| ''īs'' || ''wēsun'' || ''wēsin'' || ''sinþ'' || ''sījan'' || ''sinda''
|| ||align="right"| ''īs'' || ''wēsun'' || ''wēsin'' || ''sinþ'' || ''sījan'' || ''sinda''
|-
|}
''gēn, gangna'' ‘to be’
{| class="wikitable''
|-
! !!  !!colspan=2| Preterit !!colspan=2| Present !! Imperative
|-
|| '''Infinitive:''' ||align="right"|  || '''Indicative''' || '''Subjunctive''' || '''Indicative''' || '''Subjunctive''' ||
|-
|| ''gēn, gangna'' ||align="right"| ''ik'' || ''ēǧa'' || ''ēǧa'' || ''gēm, ganga'' || ''ganga'' ||
|-
|| '''Present Participle:''' ||align="right"| ''þū'' || ''ēǧis'' || ''ēǧis'' || ''gēs, gangis'' || ''gangas'' || ''gē, gang''
|-
|| ''gangnaǧ'' ||align="right"| ''sist'' || ''ēǧa'' || ''ēde'' || ''gēþ, gangiþ'' || ''ganga'' || ''gangaða''
|-
|| '''Past Participle:''' ||align="right"| ''wīs'' || ''ēǧim'' || ''ēǧim'' || ''gēm, gangma'' || ''gangam'' || ''gēm, gangma''
|-
|| ''gēns'' ||align="right"| ''jūs'' || ''ēǧiþ'' || ''ēǧiþ'' || ''gēþ, gangiþ'' || ''gangaþ'' || ''gēþ, gangiþ''
|-
|| ||align="right"| ''īs'' || ''ēǧin'' || ''ēǧin'' || ''gēnþ, gangnaþ'' || ''gangan'' || ''gangnaða''
|-
|-
|}
|}


==Adjectives==
==Adjectives==

Revision as of 23:07, 20 January 2017


Gutish is an East Germanic language descended from a language that was probably mutually intelligible with Gothic, though much of its corpus cannot have been inherited from the language of Wulfilas. It is likely, however, that the speakers of the ancestor of Gutish did consider themselves Goths, as reflected in its name. (It is likely similar in development to Modern High German – Deutsch – which is not directly descended from Old High German, but rather a similar dialect spoken by a group who also considered themselves “Diutisk.”) While it shares many of the areal changes of the Northwest Germanic languages, it is also marked by distinctive changes in palatalization, which, while similar to those of Old English, are most likely influenced by contact with Slavic languages.

Writing System

Alphabet & Pronunciation

Gutish-a.png
Gutish-ae.png
Gutish-b.png
Gutish-g.png
Gutish-gh.png
Gutish-d.png
Gutish-dh.png
Gutish-e.png
[ɑ]
aska
‘ash’
[e̞ː]
ǣjus
‘horse’
[b]
berkna
‘birch’
[ɡ]
giva
‘gift’
[ʤ]
ǧus
‘creature’
[d]
daǧ
‘day’
[ð]
ǣði
‘mother’
[e̞]
erða
‘earth’
Gutish-zh.png
Gutish-h.png
Gutish-th.png
Gutish-i.png
Gutish-j.png
Gutish-k.png
Gutish-l.png
Gutish-m.png
[ʐ]
akuža
‘axe’
[h]
haglas
‘hail’
[θ]
þornus
‘thorn’
[i]
igil
‘hedgehog’
[j]
jēr
‘year’
[k]
kune
‘family’
[l]
lagus
‘lake’
[m]
matna
‘man’
Gutish-n.png
Gutish-o.png
Gutish-p.png
Gutish-r.png
Gutish-s.png
Gutish-sh.png
Gutish-t.png
Gutish-ch.png
[n]
nǭþs
‘need’
[o̞]
orte
‘garden’
[p]
perðra
‘chance’
[r]
rǣða
‘wheel’
[s]
sōgil
‘sun’
[ʃ]
šug
‘family’
[t]
tījus
‘Teu’
[ʧ]
čusins
‘chioce’
Gutish-u.png
Gutish-v.png
Gutish-f.png
Gutish-w.png
Gutish-oe.png
Gutish-y.png
Gutish-oa.png
[u]
uvils
‘bad’
[v]
ivras
‘boar’
[f]
fǣjo
‘cattle’
[w]
wynia
‘joy’
[ø̞]
œrča
‘farmer’
[y]
ynča
‘ounce’
[o̞ː]
ǭsus
‘ox’

Non-Alphabetic Variants

Gutish-aa.png
Gutish-ee.png
Gutish-ii.png
Gutish-oo.png
Gutish-uu.png
Gutish-oeoe.png
Gutish-yy.png
[ɑː]
āde
‘egg’
[iː]
ēls
‘eel’
[ai̯]
īs
‘ice’
[uː]
ōðlas
‘inheritance’
[au̯]
ūrus
‘aurochs’
[ø̞ː]
œ̄ja
‘island’
[yː]
ȳftigi
‘timeliness’

Though the seven long vowels of the Non-Alphabetic Variants have individual names, they are not considered to be part of the standard alphabet or alphabetical order. Instead, each long vowel is considered alphabetically to be the equivalent of its doubled short counterpart. That is, ‹ā› is equivalent to ‹aa›, ‹ē› to ‹ee›, ‹ī› to ‹ii›, and so on. This becomes complicated by the fact that all long vowels except for ‹ā› are raised, though it’s not actually any different than what happens to the letter names in English. (The long vowels ‹ǣ› and ‹ǭ› are included in the standard alphabetical order, and do not have short forms, though they are written with macrons in their Romanized forms.)

(NB: The Gutish alphabet, while mainly latin- and cyrillic-based, contains several characters which are not readily representable using the standard Unicode characters. The forms presented in this wiki are a Romanization of the letters shown in the table above.)

Orthography

The orthography of Gutish is quite regular to its phonology; indeed, there are very few exceptions – four, in fact:

  1. The letter ‹n› is used before ‹g› or ‹k› to indicate the velar nasal [ŋ]. Specifically, ‹ng› is [ŋg] and ‹nk› is [ŋk]. (E.g. drinkna [driŋk.na] ‘to drink’.)
  2. In combinations where ‹ng› is followed by another nasal consonant, [g] is elided in speech: ‹ngm› is [ŋm] and ‹ngn› is [ŋn]. (E.g. gangna [gaŋ.na] ‘to go’; not **[gaŋg.na].)
  3. The diphthong ‹eu› is realized as [ɛu̯] (rather than the expected [e̞u̯]). (E.g. sneugna [snɛu̯g.na] ‘to snow’.)
  4. The diphthong ‹øu› is realized as [œy̑] (rather than the expected [ø̞u̯]).

Stress is indicated in the standard orthography with an acute accent only if:

  1. The stress is not on the first syllable, and
  2. the stressed syllable is a short vowel. (Long vowels cannot be unstressed, though they may sometimes take secondary stress.)

For example, fergúne ‘mountain’, but garǣts ‘correct’.

Ligatures & Liaisons

When two like vowels of equal value come together, the words may form a ligature. This is most common with the articles ( + a-, + u-, etc.) and particles (e.g + i-).

  • Articles
    • Mandatory:
      • sā, hwā, twā + a-, ā- → s’ā-, hw’ā-, tw’ā-
        • sā aplass’āplas, ‘the apple’
        • twā aðnatw’āðna ‘two seasons’
      • sō, þō, hō + u-, ō- → s’ō-, þ’ō-, h’ō-
        • sō uréčas’ōréča, ‘the persuit’
        • sō ōss’ōs, ‘the ewe’
      • þǣ, twǣ + e-, ǣ- → þ’ǣ-, tw’ǣ-
        • þǣ ǣjusþ’ǣjus ‘the horses’
        • twǣ elistw’ǣlis ‘two others’
      • nī, þrī, hī + i-, ī- → n’ī-, þr’ī-, h’ī-
        • nī istn’īst, ‘isn’t’
        • hī īsranh’īsran ‘this iron’
    • Optional:
      • sō, þō + V- → sw’V-, þw’V-
        • sō akuže, sw’akuže ‘the axe’
        • þō ī, þw’ī ‘those which’

Alternative Writing Systems

Cursive

Coming soon...

Romanization

Gutish-a.png
a
[ɑ]
Gutish-aa.png
ā
[ɑː]
Gutish-a-acute.png
á
['a]
Gutish-ae.png
ǣ
[eː]
Gutish-b.png
b
[b]
Gutish-ch.png
č
[ʧ]
Gutish-d.png
d
[d]
Gutish-dh.png
ð
[ð]
Gutish-e.png
e
[e̞]
Gutish-ee.png
ē
[iː]
Gutish-e-acute.png
é
['e̞]
Gutish-f.png
f
[f]
Gutish-g.png
g
[ɡ]
Gutish-gh.png
ǧ
[ʤ]
Gutish-h.png
h
[h]
Gutish-i.png
i
[i]
Gutish-ii.png
ī
[ai̯]
Gutish-i-acute.png
í
['i]
Gutish-j.png
j
[j]
Gutish-k.png
k
[k]
Gutish-l.png
l
[l]
Gutish-m.png
m
[m]
Gutish-n.png
n
[n]
Gutish-o.png
o
[o̞]
Gutish-oo.png
ō
[uː]
Gutish-o-acute.png
ó
['o̞]
Gutish-oa.png
ǭ
[o̞ː]
Gutish-oe.png
œ
[ø̞]
Gutish-oeoe.png
œ̄
[ø̞ː]
Gutish-oe-acute.png
œ́
['ø̞]
Gutish-p.png
p
[p]
Gutish-r.png
r
[ɾ]
Gutish-s.png
s
[s]
Gutish-sh.png
š
[ʃ]
Gutish-t.png
t
[t]
Gutish-u.png
u
[u]
Gutish-uu.png
ū
[au̯]
Gutish-u-acute.png
ú
['u]
Gutish-v.png
v
[v]
Gutish-w.png
w
[w]
Gutish-y.png
y
[y]
Gutish-yy.png
ȳ
[yː]
Gutish-y-acute.png
ý
['y]
Gutish-zh.png
ž
[ʐ]
Gutish-th.png
þ
[θ]

Transcriptional Alphabet for Intermediate Language Changes

Phonetic transliteration is not used regularly in Gutish, but is used frequently when discussing issues of historical linguistic significance to the language. This is a merger of the Latin Transliteration (above) and phonetic notation (IPA), aimed to be more precise than transliteration but less cumbersome than IPA. Characters with standard values continue to be written with the Latin transliteration (above), but others may have slightly different values. For the purposes of historical comparison, a standardized character set is used for Proto-Germanic, Gothic, and Gutish. All three alphabets are used throughout this work; those using this phonetic transcription are enclosed in slashes (/); Latin transliteration is generally italicized.

Gothic
Gothic Translit-eration
IPA
Transcription
Gutish Translit-eration
Gutish
Gothic-a.png
a
ɑ
a
a
Gutish-a.png
ā
ɑː
ā
ā
Gutish-aa.png
Gothic-a.pngGothic-j.png
aj
ɑi̯
ai
ī
Gutish-ii.png
Gothic-a.pngGothic-w.png
aw
ɑu̯
au
ū
Gutish-uu.png
Gothic-b.png
b
b
b
b
Gutish-b.png
β
β
ʧ
č
č
Gutish-ch.png
Gothic-d.png
d
d
d
d
Gutish-d.png
ð
ð
ð
Gutish-dh.png
Gothic-a.pngGothic-i.png
ɛ~e̞
e
e
Gutish-e.png
ai
ɛː
ɛ̄
ɛu̯
eu
eu
Gutish-e.pngGutish-u.png
Gothic-e.png
ē
ē
ǣ
Gutish-ae.png
Gothic-f.png
f
f
f
f
Gutish-f.png
Gothic-g.png
g
g
g
g
Gutish-g.png
ɣ
ɣ
Gothic-h.png
h
h
h
h
Gutish-h.png
Gothic-hw.png
ƕ
hʷ~ʍ
hw
hw
Gutish-h.pngGutish-w.png
Gothic-i.png
i
i~ɪ
i
i
Gutish-i.png
Gothic-e.pngGothic-i.png
ei
ī
ē
Gutish-ee.png
Gothic-j.png
j
j
j
j
Gutish-j.png
Gothic-k.png
k
k~kʰ
k
k
Gutish-k.png
Gothic-q.png
q
kʷ~kw
kw
kw
Gutish-k.pngGutish-w.png
Gothic-l.png
l
l
l
l
Gutish-l.png
Gothic-m.png
m
m
m
m
Gutish-m.png
Gothic-n.png
n
n
n
n
Gutish-n.png
Gothic-g.pngGothic-g.png
gg
ŋg
ng
ng
Gutish-n.pngGutish-g.png
ŋm
ngm
ngm
Gutish-n.pngGutish-g.pngGutish-m.png
ŋn
ngn
ngn
Gutish-n.pngGutish-g.pngGutish-n.png
Gothic-g.pngGothic-k.png
gk
ŋk
nk
nk
Gutish-n.pngGutish-k.png
Gothic-g.pngGothic-q.png
gq
ŋkw~ŋkʷ
nkw
nkw
Gutish-n.pngGutish-k.pngGutish-w.png
Gothic-a.pngGothic-u.png
ɔ~o̞
o
o
Gutish-o.png
au
ɔː
ɔ̄
Gothic-o.png
ō
ō
ǭ
Gutish-oa.png
œ
œ1
œː
œ̄1
ø̞
ø
œ
Gutish-oe.png
ø̞ː
ø̄
œ̄
Gutish-oeoe.png
œy̑
œy
œu
Gutish-oe.pngGutish-u.png
Gothic-p.png
p
p~pʰ
p
p
Gutish-p.png
Gothic-r.png
r
ɾ~r
r
r
Gutish-r.png
ɾ̩~r̩
ɾ̩~r̩
Gothic-s.png
s
s
s
s
Gutish-s.png
ʃ
š
š
Gutish-sh.png
Gothic-t.png
t
t~tʰ
t
t
Gutish-t.png
Gothic-th.png
þ
θ
þ
þ
Gutish-th.png
Gothic-u.png
u
u~ʊ
u
u
Gutish-u.png
ū
ū
ō
Gutish-oo.png
v
v
v
Gutish-v.png
Gothic-w.png
w
w
w
w
Gutish-w.png
ɯ~ʏ
υ2
y
y
y
Gutish-y.png
ȳ
ȳ
Gutish-yy.png
Gothic-z.png
z
z
z
ʐ
ž
ž
Gutish-zh.png

1 /œ/ and /œ̄/ represent an intermediate stage in the development of the Gutish language which occurs in the phonemic inventory of neither Gothic nor Gutish.

2 When it appears as a vowel, 𐍅 was used in Gothic to transliterate the Greek letter υ, and did not occur otherwise in the phonemic inventory of Gothic.

Phonology

There is a lot that happens in Gutish when words encounter other words or receive certain inflectional endings. Generally this has to do with the letter ending a root.

Roots ending in ‹d› or ‹g›, for instance, become palatalized before ‹s›. E.g. the nominative form of dag ‘day’ is daǧ rather than the otherwise expected **dags. Furthermore, ‹d› becomes spirantized between two vowels, so some roots may have as many as three forms for one declension. E.g. bard ‘beard’ has the nominative form barǧ, dative barða, and accusative bard. More of this will be discussed in the chapters on declension of Nouns and Adjectives and the conjugation of Verbs, but some basics will be laid out here.

[r]-Assimilation

This is a persistent rule that does not have much effect on declensions within the language, but does have some effect on the development of certain words. This rule is described in the Rules chapter of this document in Assimilation of [ɾ]. Specifically, /r/ is deleted when immediately followed by /ž/. For example, the possessive adjective inkur ‘our’, from earlier inkwar has the genitive plural form inkuža from earlier inkwarɛ̄zō rather than the otherwise expected **inkurža.

Voicing Alternation

This rule is inherited from Gothic or perhaps even Proto-Germanic. The rule is not persistent, but the variation in forms still affects the inflections of nouns, verbs, and adjectives in Gutish. (A similar v/f alternation rule exists in English, for example in singular knife and plural knives, or the noun strife and the verb strive.) The Gothic version of this rule caused alternation between ‹f› or ‹þ›, used only at the end of a word, and ‹b› or ‹d›, used elsewhere, e.g. giban, ‘to give’, gaf, ‘gave’. There are three main realizations of this rule in Gutish:

  • v → f
  • ð → þ } at the end of a word, or before an unvoiced consonant.
  • ž → s

The implications of this rule for Gutish are:

  • ‹f› or ‹þ› occur before ‹s› in the nominative singular of masculine or some feminine strong nouns, e.g. þlǣfs ‘loaf of bread’, but genitive þlǣvis.
  • ‹f› or ‹þ› occur when word-final in the accusative of masculine or some feminine strong nouns, and the nominative and accusative of neuter strong nouns, e.g. blōþ ‘blood’, but genitive blōðis.
  • ‹f› occurs when word-final or before ‹t› in the preterit singular and the second person imperative singular of strong verbs, e.g. gaf, gaft, ‘gave’, but infinitive givna.
  • ‹þ› also occurs when word-final in the preterit singular and imperative, but is assimilated to ‹s› before ‹t› in the second person preterit (see Coronal Consonant Assimilation below).
  • The implications for ‹s› and ‹ž› can be a little trickier, because this split was not uniform in Gothic times, so many words retain ‹s› throughout the paradigm. These are noted in the lexicon and must be learned by rote.

Please note that because this rule is not persistent, there are several words which later developed an intervocalic ‹f› or ‹þ› from earlier ‹h› which is not affected by this rule.

Palatalization

Palatalization is another historic rule that is no longer persistent in Gutish, but has wide-ranging implications for inflections in Gutish. There are actually several types of palatalization that occur in Gutish, but they can all be boiled down into the following rules:

  • Masculine and feminine nouns whose roots end in ‹d› or ‹g› become palatalized before ‹s› in the nominative singular of a-, i-, and u-stems (but not feminine ō-stems). E.g. Gothic dags ‘day’ becomes daǧ. This type of palatalization only occurs when there was a /dz/ or /gz/ present in the language at some point historically (from Gothic /ds/ or /gs/).
  • A much more common form of palatalization, however, is that which occurs whenever the ending of a noun, verb, or adjective begins with ‹j›, e.g. strong masculine ja-stem nouns or adjectives or class 1 weak verbs. In these cases, the following occurs:
    • ‹d› or ‹g› + ‹j› → ‹ǧ›
    • ‹t› or ‹k› + ‹j› → ‹č›
    • ‹s› or ‹h› + ‹j› → ‹š›
    • ‹z› + ‹j› → ‹ž› (and so do all other instances of ‹z›, but that’s not applicable to this section.)

[b]/[v] Alternation

A less common alternation is that of ‹b› and ‹v›. This occurs specifically in inflections where some endings begin with ‹j› while others do not; for instance, the strong masculine ija-stem ending of nouns and adjectives. In this paradigm, the nominative, genitive, and accusative of the singular all have ‹v› from earlier ‹b› (because it is intervocalic), but the rest of the paradigm has ‹b›, because it was historically followed by ‹j›, which prevents the intervocalic shift. For example, the adjective drœ̄vis ‘muddy’ has the dative singular form drœ̄bia.

Umlaut

Umlaut is another of those sound laws that no longer happens actively in the language, but it has become indicative of specific tenses or cases in the language.

  • Accusative singular nouns with palatalization are not umlauted. All other forms of nouns with palatalization are umlauted.
  • The past subjunctive of verbs is umlauted (except for the 3rd person singular in formal speech). (First person singular is palatalized and umlauted.)
  • Most class 1 weak verbs and strong verbs ending in –jan in Gothic have umlaut in the present and imperative. These verbs all end with –in in Gutish.

Umlaut in Gutish initiates the following changes in the stressed vowel of a word:

  • ‹a› → ‹e› - satjan ‘to set’ → sečin
  • ‹ā› → ‹ǣ› - hlahjan ‘to laugh’ → þlǣn
  • ‹ǭ› → ‹œ̄› -
  • ‹o› → ‹œ› -
  • ‹ō› → ‹œ̄› - hwōtjan ‘to threaten’ → hwœ̄čin
  • ‹u› → ‹y› - hugjan ‘to think’ → hyǧin
  • ‹ū› → ‹ȳ› -

NB: Umlaut can refer to several different types of vowel change in Germanic languages – i/j-umlaut, u/w-umlaut, and a-umlaut most common – but only one type is present in Gutish. Umlaut here is used to refer specifically to i/j-umlaut, also known as i-umlaut, or front umlaut.

NB for Linguists: The asymmetrical nature of the umlaut is the result of a later change to the long vowels. See Umlaut in the Rules at the end of this document.

Coronal Consonant Assimilation

This rule has a formidable name, but is actually common to all Germanic languages. This rule states that whenever a coronal consonant (namely, ‹d›, ‹t›, or ‹þ›) is directly followed by ‹t› or ‹st›, the coronal consonant becomes ‹s›. This accounts for the English word best, from earlier betst, from *batest. This applies mainly to second person preterit strong verbs, e.g. ǧutna ‘to pour’ has a past of gǭst ‘you poured’, rather than the expected **gǭtt.

Syncope of Unstressed Non-High Middle Vowel

...um, working on it. I'll get back to you on this one...

Blocking of Metathetical Unpacking

Another formidable name, but what this means is that historically a sound change caused ‹a› to disappear before a sonorant (‹l›, ‹r›, ‹m›, or ‹n›), turning them into syllabics, and merging them with other pre-existing syllabics from Gothic. Later on, syllabics were “unpacked;” that is, they regained the ‹a› that had been lost, but it now appeared after the sonorant instead of before it. For example, brōþar ‘brother’ became brōðra via an intermediate *brōðr̩. However, there are a few instances where this unpacking didn’t happen because the ‹a› before the sonorant could not be deleted; if it were, the word would have been unpronounceable. Metathesis is also blocked after any non-intervocalic voiced continuant; that is, V[v/ð]S shifts as expected (e.g. widan > wiðn̩ > wiðna), but VC[v/ð]S does not (e.g. haldan > halðan, not **halðna).

The practicality of this rule as it applies to modern Gutish is that:

  • Dative plural nouns whose roots end in ‹–m› have the ending of ‹–am› rather than ‹–ma›, e.g. worms ‘worm’ has the dative plural of wormam rather than **wormma.
  • Masculine and feminine accusative plural strong nouns ending in ‹–n› have the ending of ‹–ans› rather than ‹–nas›, e.g. ǭns ‘oven’ has the accusative plural of ǭnans rather than **ǭnnas.
  • Infinitives of strong verbs and weak class 3 verbs whose roots end with ‹lð›, ‹lv›, ‹rð›, or ‹rv› have ‹–an› instead of ‹–na›, e.g. Gothic þaurban becomes þorvan rather than the otherwise expected **þorvna.

Assimilation of [r] and [s]

Historically, this is a sound change that occurred in the transition from Proto-Germanic to Gothic and is no longer persistent, but it has specific reflexes that affect Gutish paradigms.

The change initially applies to "light"-syllable nouns with stems ending in ‹-s› or ‹-r› in the masculine and feminine classes that take a final ‹-z› in the nominative singular. E.g. PGmc. *weraz, *drusiz → (Mora Loss: Short Unstressed Vowel Deletion) → *werz, *drusz → (Final Obstruent Devoicing) → wers, druss → (r/s-Assimilation) → Gothic waír /wer/, drus.

Later, beginning around the time of Middle Gutish, this change was expanded analogously to other nouns and adjectives which had "heavy" syllables, and eventually the rule emerged that nouns and adjectives ending in ‹-r› and ‹-s› do not take an (additional) ‹-s› in the nominative singular, though they otherwise follow the paradigm of their particular stem.

Phonemic Inventory

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.
1sg ik mīn mis mik I, my, (to) me, me
2sg þū þīn þis þik thou, thy, (to) thee, thee
3sg.masc is is itma in he, his, (to) him, him
3sg.neu it is itma it it, its, (to) it, it
3sg.fem ižas iža ī, īja she, her, (to) her, her
1du wit unkar unkis unk we two, our, (to) us, us
2du jut inkur inkus ink you/ye two, your, (to) you, you
1pl wīs unsar unsis uns we all, our, (to) us, us
2pl jūs ižur ižus ižus you/ye all, your, (to) you, you
3pl.masc īs iža im ins they, their, (to) them, them
3pl.neu ī, īja iža im ī, īja they, their, (to) them, them
3pl.fem ījas iža im ījas they, their, (to) them, them

Relative Pronouns

There are two types of relative pronouns in Gutish, and although they are used interchangeably, I present them here in two separate tables: The first (more common) forms are with the Gothic clitic particle ei- having separated from the pronouns (see Clitic Separation), and the second, more “traditional” forms where the clitic is still attached to the word.

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.
sg.masc is ī þis ī þatm’ī þan ī iži þiži þetmi þeni
sg.neu þat ī þis ī þatm’ī þat ī þī, þeti þiži þetmi þī, þeti
sg.fem sō ī, sw’ī þižas ī þiž’ī þō ī, þw’ī þižaži þiži þī
pl.masc īs ī, þǣ ī þiž’ī þǣm ī þans ī iži þiži þǣmi þenǧi
pl.neu þō ī, þw’ī þiž’ī þǣm ī þō ī, þw’ī þœ̄gi þiži þǣmi þœ̄gi
pl.fem þōs ī þiž’ī þǣm ī þōs ī þœ̄ži þiži þǣmi þœ̄ži

Indefinite Pronouns

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.
inter.masc hwas hwis hwatma hwan who, whose, to whom, whom
inter.neu hwā hwis hwatma hwat what, &c, plural.
inter.fem hwižas hwiža who, &c, plural.
gen. sist is itma sist one, one’s, &c
neg. nima hun nimis hun nimin hun nimna hun noöne, noöne’s, &c
refl. - sīn sis sik himself, herself, itself, &c

Numbers

Declinable Numerals

Singular

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.
masc. ǣns ǣnis ǣnatma ǣnan
neu. ǣn(at) ǣnis ǣnatma ǣn(at)
fem. ǣna ǣnažas ǣna ǣna

Dual

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.
masc. twǣ twǣǧa twǣm twans
neu. twā twǣǧa twǣm twā
fem. tōs twǣǧa twǣm tōs

Dual Distributive (short form)

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.
masc. bǣža bǣm bans
neu. bǣža bǣm
fem. bījas bǣža bǣm bījas

Dual Distributive (long form)

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.
masc. bījaþs bīðiža bīðum bīðans
neu. bījaþ bīðiža bīðum bījaþ
fem. bīðas bīðiža bīðum bīðas

Trial

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.
masc. þrīs þrīja þrim þrins
neu. þrī þrīja þrim þrī
fem. þrīs þrīja þrim þrins

Trial Distributive

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.
masc. þrǣ þrǣža þrǣm þrans
neu. þrā þrǣža þrǣm þrā
fem. þrījas þrǣža þrǣm þrījas

Undeclinable Numerals

# 1# #0 #00 #000 #000
0 (nǣns) tǣjun, tēn -tiǧis tēhund þūsunde -ljǭn
1 (ǣns) ǣnlif tǣjun ǣn hund ǣna þūsunde miljǭn
2 (twǣ) twalif twǣtiǧis twā hunda tōs þūsunǧis biljǭn
3 (þrīs) þrījatǣn þrīstiǧis þrī hunda þrī þūsunǧis þriljǭn
4 fiður, fiðra fiðratǣn fiðratiǧis fiður hunda fiður þūsunǧis friljǭn
5 fim fimtǣn fimtiǧis fim hunda fim þūsunǧis fimfiljǭn
6 sǣs sǣstǣn sǣstiǧis sǣs hunda sǣs þūsunǧis sǣsiljǭn
7 sivun, sivna sivnatǣn sivnatiǧis sivun hunda sivun þūsunǧis sivniljǭn
8 āta ātatǣn ātatiǧis āta hunda āta þūsunǧis ātatiljǭn
9 njun njuntǣn njuntiǧis njun hunda njun þūsunǧis njuniljǭn

The numbers in Gutish – as in most languages – have gone through more phonological change than other words, and as a result, there are some irregularities. Four numbers have two forms (some of which may be optional). There is also an innovated trial distributive (‘all three’), probably by assimilation from the dual (‘both’). The number ‘one’, usually alternating with the indefinite article in most languages, is used merely for counting purposes, as an indefinite article is not used in Gutish.

The number ‘four’ is fiður, where we would normally expect **fidur through regular sound change (specifically, the change of /d/ to /ð/ would normally be blocked by the following /w/ in fidwōr). There is also a further lenited form of fiðra, which is optional when it stands alone, but required in compounds. (Gothic also had two versions of ‘four’: fidwōr and a compound form fidur.)

The number ‘seven’ has the expected form of sivun, but also a lenited form of sivna, again, required in compounds but otherwise optional. ‘Eight’ is āta, but may optionally be lenited to āt. (This is a newer innovation, and is not considered to be correct in writing.) Finally ‘ten’ is tǣjun or lenited tǣn, the latter being used exclusively in the “teen” numbers, the former being preferred elsewhere, though still optional.

Number terms higher than ‘thousand’ are ostensibly borrowed from Latin, though they contain their own Germanic innovations, e.g. þriljǭn ‘trillion’, fiðriljǭn ‘quadrillion’, fimfiljǭn ‘quintillion’, instead of the expected **triljǭn, **kwaðriljǭn, and **kwintiljǭn.

Another note concerning the higher numbers: Gutish follows the short scale for higher numbers (whereas most European countries currently use the long scale); that is, each new number term is one thousand times larger than the previous term (whereas in the long scale, each new term is one million times larger). This is further confused by the now-standard European “hybrid” model where intermediate terms in the long scale are applied to the “thousands” with the suffix ‘-ard’. The following table is applicable to most modern standards:

N⁰ Numerals Gutish Short Hybrid Long Metric
10³ 1,000 þūsunde thousand thousand thousand kilo
10⁶ 1,000,000 miljǭn million million million Mega
10⁹ 1,000,000,000 biljǭn billion milliard thousand million Giga
10¹² 1,000,000,000,000 þriljǭn trillion billion billion Tera
10¹⁵ 1,000,000,000,000,000 fiðriljǭn quadrillion billiard thousand billion Peta
10¹⁸ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 fimfiljǭn quintillion trillion trillion Exa
10²¹ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 sǣsiljǭn sextillion trilliard thousand trillion Zetta
10²⁴ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 sivniljǭn septillion quadrillion quadrillion Yotta
10²⁷ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ātatiljǭn octillion quadrilliard thousand quadrillion -
10³⁰ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 njuniljǭn nonillion quintillion quintillion -

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are usually formed by adding a dental suffix to the end of a number, though there is some suppletion for the first and second ordinals, and the third is irregular (just as is the case in English).

In Proto-Germanic and Gothic, all of the ordinals except for first and second used only the weak declension, but all ordinals now use both strong and weak declensions according to standard rules. As with the cardinal numbers, there are two acceptable forms for ‘fourth’, ‘seventh’, and ‘tenth,’ following the same lenition as the cardinals, though there is only one form of ‘eighth’. An alternate form of ‘third’, þrīǧas is sometimes used, but it is not always considered correct.

1 frumist, frums first
2 anðras second
3 þriǧas, þrīǧas third
4 fiðraþs fourth
5 fimft fifth
6 sǣst sixth
7 sivunǧ seventh
8 ātuǧ eighth
9 njunǧ ninth
10 tǣjunǧ, tǣnǧ tenth
11 ǣnlift eleventh
12 twālift twelfth
13 þrītǣnǧ thirteenth
20 twǣtiǧist twentieth
100 hundaþs hundredth
1,000 þūsunǧiþs thousandth
1,000,000 miljǭnǧ millionth

Articles & Determiners

Gutish has two definite articles, and his, both of which are equivalent to ‘the,’ but may also be translated as ‘that’ and ‘this’, respectively. Where there is a lack of clear proximity-based dichotomy, is usually preferred.

There is no indefinite article in Gutish.

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.
masc.sg þis þatma þan his his hitma hin
neu.sg þat þis þatma þat hit his hitma hit
fem.sg þižas þiža þō hīja hižas hiža hī, hīja
masc.pl þǣ þiža þǣm þans hīs hiža him hins
neu.pl þō þiža þǣm þō hī, hīja hiža him hī, hīja
fem.pl þōs þiža þǣm þōs hījas hiža him hījas

Nouns

A Note on Strong and Weak Nouns

In most Germanic languages, nouns (as well as verbs and adjectives) tend to be broken into categories con-sidered “strong” and “weak.” In nouns and adjectives, “weak” means that the words cling to their determiner endings inherited from Indo-European, which usually have an /n/ inserted between the root and the ending. For the purposes of this text, I will dispense with the traditional strong and weak categories as relates to the nouns and simply relate the various categories into which nouns can be classified, based on their inherited Proto-Germanic endings (which include the /n/ infix where applicable). Since these endings can be irregular and each class must be learned by rote anyway, there is no need in the context of the Gutish language to add this additional arbitrary distinction.

Noun classes differ by stem vowel and by gender. They may also differ by glides (/j/ or /w/) suffixed to the stem and/or the presence of infixive /n/. The main classes are those stems in /a/ or /ō/, in /i/, in /u/, or in /n/ (as described above). There are also a few minor classes in consonantal stems (a.k.a. Ø-stem), in /r/ (a very small class having to do with familial relations), and in /nd/ (based on the nominalization of the present participle). These minor classes will be discussed here, but for the learner who is new to Germanic languages, these should be treated as irregular declensions and learned by rote. Many of these have also been regularized in Gutish through the process of paradigmatic levelling, and their declensions have been assimilated by analogy into other classes.

Every noun in Gutish (and most Germanic languages) has eight possible forms. These are the singular and plural forms of the nominative (those nouns which comprise the subject of the sentence), genitive (those used to indicate possession or relation), dative (the indirect object), and accusative (the direct object).

Masculine and feminine strong nouns usually take an ending of –s for the nominative singular, while neuter nouns take no ending. The genitive is almost universally indicated by –is (this is equivalent to the “ ’s ” of the English possessive). The dative usually takes –a. The accusative usually does not take any ending.

In the plural, Masculine and feminine nouns usually take –as as an ending; neuter takes –a. The genitive plural also takes –a. The dative plural takes –am, but in many cases this ending undergoes a process of metathesis, rendering it –ma (exceptions are noted in the paradigms). Finally the accusative plural of masculine and feminine nouns is –ans, but again may metathesize to –nas; neuter plurals generally take –a.

Most of the actual declensions of nouns are fairly standard – much more standardized, in fact, than Gothic – however, the various phonological rules governing the language create a great deal of variation. It is im-portant to be familiar with the rules set forth in the Phonology section of this document in order to fully understand some of the otherwise unexpected variants that emerge.

In order to give more context to the evolution of these rules and the variations that emerge, the original Proto-Germanic and Gothic forms are also examined.

a- and ō-stems

By far the most common type of noun in all of the Germanic languages, a- and ō-stems become the basis of several sub-classes of nouns. Masculine and neuter nouns took a-stem (from Proto-Indo-European o-), while feminine nouns took ō (from PIE ā-).

Strong a-stem (masculine)

This is the most common type of noun class in Gutish as well as in most Germanic languages. As such, it is also the most varied in terms of declension.

Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type I: Default (“n.st.m.a”)
slǣpaz slǣpis slǣpai slǣpą slǣpōz slǣpǫ̂ slǣpamaz slǣpanz sleep
slēps slēpis slēpa slēp slēpōs slēpē slēpam slēpans
slēps slēpis slēpa slēp slēpas slēpa slēpma slēpnas
This is the default declension of the a-stem paradigm. Note the metathesis in the endings on the dative and accusative plural.
Type II: Syllabic (“n.st.m.a.syl”)
         for roots ending in VCR (VCl-, VCm-, VCn-, VCr-)
akraz akris akrai ak akrōz akrǫ̂ akramaz akranz field
akrs akris akra akr akrōs ak akram akrans
akras akris akra akra akras akra akram akrans
For those nouns ending in a syllabic sonorant in Gothic (‹r›, ‹l›, ‹m›, or ‹n› after another consonant), a vowel must be added to certain endings (indicated in red). Consquently, the metathesis observed in the default form is undone. (Or, more accurately, is blocked from occurring in the first place.)
Type IIIa: Devoicing/Spirantization Merging (“n.st.m.ba”)
         for roots ending in Vb- and Vf-
hlaibaz hlaibis hlaibai hlai hlaibōz hlaibǫ̂ hlaibamaz hlaibanz bread
hlaifs hlaibis hlaiba hlaif hlaibōs hlai hlaibam hlaibans
þlǣfs þlǣvis þlǣva þlǣf þlǣvas þlǣva þlǣvma þlǣvnas
For roots ending in ‹b›, it is devoiced to ‹f› in the nominative and accusative singular (at a time before Gothic), indicated in red. ‹b› is spirantized (that is, becomes ‹v›) in the rest of the endings, indicated in blue. (This was the case in Gothic as well, though the spirantization was not indicated in writing.) In the case of those roots ending in ‹f›, the ‹f› is voiced to ‹v› in the same environment that ‹b› is spirantized, so as far as Gutish is concerned, these two paradigms are identical.
Type IIIb: Devoicing/Spirantization Merging (“n.st.m.da”)
         for roots ending in Vd- and Vþ-
audaz audis audai au audōz audǫ̂ audamaz audanz fortune
auþs audis auda auþ audōs au audam audans
ǭþs ǭðis ǭða ǭþ ǭðas ǭða ǭðma ǭðnas
Same idea as above. For roots ending in ‹d›, it is devoiced to ‹þ› in the nominative and accusative singular (at a time before Gothic), indicated in red. ‹d› is spirantized (that is, becomes ‹ð›) in the rest of the endings, indicated in blue. (This was the case in Gothic as well, though the spirantization was not indicated in writing.) In the case of those roots ending in ‹þ›, the ‹þ› is voiced to ‹ð› in the same environment that ‹d› is spirantized, so as far as Gutish is concerned, these two paradigms are identical.
Type IIIc: Devoicing (“n.st.m.za”)
         for roots ending in Vz-
gaizaz gaizis gaizai gai gaizōz gaizǫ̂ gaizamaz gaizanz spear
gais gaizis gaiza gais gaizōs gai gaizam gaizans
s žis ža s žas ža žma žnas
Same idea as above, with an extra twist. For roots ending in ‹ž›, it is devoiced to ‹s› in the nominative and accusative singular (at a time before Gothic), indicated in red. ‹ž› remains in the rest of the endings, indicated in blue. In addition to the devoicing in the nominative and accusative, the nominative ending ‹s› is deleted or assimilated.
Type IVa: Post-Approximant Spirantization (“n.st.m.rba”)
         for roots ending in Vlb- and Vrb-
hwerbaz hwerbis hwerbai hwer hwerbōz hwerbǫ̂ hwerbamaz hwerbanz planet
ƕaírbs ƕaírbis ƕaírba ƕaírb ƕaírbōs ƕaír ƕaírbam ƕaírbans
hwerbs hwervis hwerva hwerb hwervas hwerva hwervam hwervans
Like the above, this deals with nouns ending in ‹b›, which spirantizes to ‹v› in most declensions, but it is prevented from devoicing to ‹f› in the nominative and accusative by a consonant before it. This is a rule inhereited from Gothic. Metathesis in the dative and accusative plural is also blocked. This occurs for stems ending in ‹rb›, ‹rd›, ‹lb›, and ‹ld›.
Type IVb: Post-Approximant Spirantization (“n.st.m.rda”)
         for roots ending in Vld- and Vrd-
bardaz bardis bardai bar bardōz bardǫ̂ bardamaz bardanz beard
bards bardis barda bard bardōs bar bardam bardans
barǧ barðis barða bard barðas barða barðam barðans
This is the same idea as the “rda” declension above, with the additional twist that Gothic ‹ds›, when word-final, palatalizes and becomes ‹ǧ›. There is also spirantization in the other declensions except for the accusative singular, which retains the original ‹d›, and metathesis is blocked in the dative and accusative plural.
Type IVc: Post-Approximant Spirantization (“n.st.m.rza”)
         for roots ending in Vlz- and Vrz-
amzaz amzis amzai am amzōz amzǫ̂ amzamaz amzanz shoulder
ams amzis amza ams amzōs am amzam amzans
ams amžis amža ams amžas amža amžam amžans
This paradigm differs from the version above in that a consonant occurring before a voiced fricative (‹ž›) has the affect of blocking metathesis in the dative and accusative plural (in red).
Type Va: Post-Approximant Inter-Sonorant Voicing (“n.st.m.lfa”)
         for roots ending in Vlf- and Vrf-
wulfaz wulfis wulfai wul wulfōz wulfǫ̂ wulfamaz wulfanz wolf
wulfs wulfis wulfa wulf wulfōs wul wulfam wulfans
wulfs wulvis wulva wulf wulvas wulva wulvam wulvans
Scary name, but it’s really just the same as the above, but for nouns ending in ‹f›.
Type Vb: Post-Approximant Inter-Sonorant Voicing (“n.st.m.lþa”)
         for roots ending in Vlþ- and Vrþ-
Type VIa: Post-Approximant Inter-Sonorant Voicing (“n.st.m.ga”)
         for roots ending in Vg-, Vng-, Vlg-, Vrg-
dagaz dagis dagai da dagōz dagǫ̂ dagamaz daganz day
dags dagis daga dag dagōs da dagam dagans
daǧ dagis daga dag dagas daga dagma dagnas
This is the same as the default with the only exception that there is palatalization of ‹g› in the nominative singular.
Type VIIa: /r/-Assimilation (“n.st.m.ra”)
         for roots ending in r-
weraz weris werai we werōz werǫ̂ weramaz weranz man
waír waíris waíra waír waírōs waí waíram waírans
wer weris wera wer weras wera werma wernas
This is the same as the default with the only exception that the nominative singular ‹s› is assimilated (in pre-Gothic times). This rule expands slightly in Gutish; whereas in Gothic it applied only to light syllables, by Gutish times it applies to all nouns ending in ‹r›.
Type VIIb: /s/-Assimilation (“n.st.m.sa”)
         for roots ending in s-
wapsaz wapsis wapsai wapsą wapsōz wapsǫ̂ wapsamaz wapsanz wasp
waps wapsis wapsa waps wapsōs wapsē wapsam wapsans
waps wapsis wapsa waps wapsas wapsa wapsma wapsnas
s is dropped/assimilated from the nominative.
Type VIIc: Cluster Simplification and Palatalization (“n.st.m.ska”)
         for roots ending in Vsk-
fiskaz fiskis fiskai fiską fiskōz fiskǫ̂ fiskamaz fiskanz fish
fisks fiskis fiska fisk fiskōs fiskē fiskam fiskans
fišk fiškis fiška fišk fiškas fiška fiškam fiškans
s is dropped from the nominative.
Type VIId: Cluster Simplification (“n.st.m.ska”)
         for roots ending in Vsp-, Vst-, Vft-
astaz astis astai astą astōz astǫ̂ astamaz astanz branch
asts astis asta ast astōs astē astam astans
ast astis asta ast astas asta astma astnas
s is dropped from the nominative.
Type VIIIa: Metathetical Blocking with /m/ (“n.st.m.ska”)
         for roots ending in m-
wurmaz wurmis wurmai wurmą wurmōz wurmǫ̂ wurmamaz wurmanz wurm
waúrms waúrmis waúrma waúrm waúrmōs waúrmē waúrmam waúrmans
worms wormis worma worm wormas worma wormam wormnas
no metathesis in dat pl only
Type VIIIa: Metathetical Blocking with /n/ (“n.st.m.ska”)
         for roots ending in n-
uhnaz uhnis uhnai uhną uhnōz uhnǫ̂ uhnamaz uhnanz oven
auhns auhnis auhna auhn auhnōs auhnē auhnam auhnans
ǭns ǭnis ǭna ǭn ǭnas ǭna ǭnma ǭnans
no metathesis in acc pl only
Type IXa: Assimilation of /b/ (“n.st.m.mba”)
         for roots ending in mb-
lambaz lambis lambai lambą lambōz lambǫ̂ lambamaz lambanz lamb, sheep
lambs lambis lamba lamb lambōs lambē lambam lambans
lams lambis lamba lam lambas lamba lambam lambans
b is lost in nom and acc sg
Type IXa: nd (“n.st.m.nda”)
         for roots ending in nd-
wendaz wendaiz wendai wendą wendōz wendǫ̂ wendamaz wendanz wind
winds windis winda wind windōs windē windam windans
winǧ windis winda wind windas winda windam windans
In addition to those a-stem nouns ending in nd-, nounds from the “nd-stems,” such as frīnǧ ‘friend’, have been assimilated into this declension, adding ‹a› to the declension of the dative singular and nominative plural, and adding ‹n› to the accusative plural.

Strong a-stem (neuter)

The strong neuter a-stems are just like the masculine, except that the neuter does not take an ‹-s› on the nominative singular (i.e. the nominative is the same as the accusative), and the nominative and accusative plurals are identical to the dative singular. In other words, any of the irregularities discussed above that have to do with these categories will no longer apply for neuter a-stem nouns.

Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type I: Default (“n.st.n.a”)
barną barnis barnai barną barnō barnǫ̂ barnamaz barnō child
barn barnis barna barn barna barnē barnam barna
barn barnis barna barn barna barna barnma barnnas
This is the default declension of the a-stem paradigm. Note the metathesis in the endings on the dative and accusative plural.
Type II: Syllabic (“n.st.m.a.syl”)
         for roots ending in VCR (VCl-, VCm-, VCn-, VCr-)
nis nai nōz nǫ̂ namaz nanz season
n nis na n na nam na
na nis na na na na nam na
For those nouns ending in a syllabic sonorant in Gothic (‹r›, ‹l›, ‹m›, or ‹n› after another consonant), a vowel must be added to certain endings (indicated in red). Consquently, the metathesis observed in the default form is undone. (Or, more accurately, is blocked from occurring in the first place.)
Type IIIa: Devoicing/Spirantization Merging (“n.st.m.ba”)
         for roots ending in Vb- and Vf-
hrō hrōfis hrōfai hrō hrō hrōfǫ̂ hrōfamaz hrō roof
hrōfs hrōfis hrōfa hrōf hrōfōs hrō hrōfam hrōfans
þrōf þrōvis þrōva þrōf þrōva þrōva þrōvma þrōva
For roots ending in ‹b›, it is devoiced to ‹f› in the nominative and accusative singular (at a time before Gothic), indicated in red. ‹b› is spirantized (that is, becomes ‹v›) in the rest of the endings, indicated in blue. (This was the case in Gothic as well, though the spirantization was not indicated in writing.) In the case of those roots ending in ‹f›, the ‹f› is voiced to ‹v› in the same environment that ‹b› is spirantized, so as far as Gutish is concerned, these two paradigms are identical.
Type IIIb: Devoicing/Spirantization Merging (“n.st.m.da”)
         for roots ending in Vd- and Vþ-
blōþą blōþis blōþai blōþą blō blōdǫ̂ blōdamaz blō blood
blōþ blōþis blōþa blōþ blōþa blōþē blōþam blōþa
blōþ blōðis blōða blōþ blōða blōða blōðma blōða
Same idea as above. For roots ending in ‹d›, it is devoiced to ‹þ› in the nominative and accusative singular (at a time before Gothic), indicated in red. ‹d› is spirantized (that is, becomes ‹ð›) in the rest of the endings, indicated in blue. (This was the case in Gothic as well, though the spirantization was not indicated in writing.) In the case of those roots ending in ‹þ›, the ‹þ› is voiced to ‹ð› in the same environment that ‹d› is spirantized, so as far as Gutish is concerned, these two paradigms are identical.
Type IIIc: Devoicing (“n.st.m.za”)
         for roots ending in Vz-
deu deuzis deuzai deu deu deuzǫ̂ deuzamaz deu creature
dius diuzis diuza dius diuza diu diuzam diuza
ǧus ǧužis ǧuža ǧus ǧuža ǧuža ǧužma ǧuža
Type IXa: Assimilation of /b/ (“n.st.n.mba”)
         for roots ending in mb-
lambą lambis lambai lambą lambō lambǫ̂ lambamaz lambō lamb
lamb lambis lamba lamb lamba lambē lambam lamba
lam lambis lamba lam lamba lamba lambam lamba
lba (“n.st.n.lba”)
         for roots ending in lb-, rba
kalbą kalbis kalbai kalbą kalbō kalbǫ̂ kalbamaz kalbō calf
kalb kalbis kalba kalb kalba kalbē kalbam kalba
kalb kalbis kalba kalb kalba kalba kalbam kalba
rda (“n.st.m.rda”)
         for roots ending in rda-, lda-
wurdą wurdis wurdai wurdą wurdō wurdǫ̂ wurdamaz wurdō word
waúrd waúrdis waúrda waúrd waúrda waúrdē waúrdam waúrda
word wois woa word woa woa woma woa

Strong ō-stem (feminine)

The simplest noun class by far is the strong feminine ō-stem. There is only one paradigm with no variations.

Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type I: Default (“n.st.f.ō”)
erþō erþōz erþōi erþǭ erþôz erþǫ̂ erþōmaz erþôz earth
aírþa aírþais aírþai aírþa aírþōs aírþō aírþōm aírþōs
erða erðis erða erða erðas erða erðam erðas
This is the default declension of the ō-stem paradigm. Note the assimilation of the genitive singular (from the expected “-as”).

ja- and jō-stems

While traditionally listed as sub-classes of a- and ō-stems, the j-stem nouns differ from these in two important ways: Umlaut and Palatalization. (…more below…)

Strong ja-stem (masculine)

Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type I: Default (“n.st.m.ja”)
harjaz harjis harjai har harjōz harjǫ̂ harjamaz harjanz army
harjis harjis harja hari harjōs har harjam harjans
heris heris heria hare heris heria herim herins
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type II: bja (“n.st.m.bja”)
sebjaz sebjis sebjai seb sebjōz sebjǫ̂ sebjamaz sebjanz kinsman
sibjis sibjis sibja sibi sibjōs sib sibjam sibjans
sibis sibis sibia sive sibis sibia sibim sibins
Accusative changes to /v/…
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type IIIa: dja (“n.st.m.dja”)
medjaz medjis medjai med medjōz medjǫ̂ medjamaz medjanz middle
midjis midjis midja midi midjōs mid midjam midjans
miǧis miǧis miǧa miðe miǧis miǧa miǧim miǧins
Accusative changes to /ð/…
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type IIIb: gja (“n.st.m.gja”)
sagjaz sagjis sagjai sag sagjōz sagjǫ̂ sagjamaz sagjanz messenger
sagjis sagjis sagja sagi sagjōs sag sagjam sagjans
seǧis seǧis seǧa sage seǧis seǧa seǧim seǧins
Accusative changes to /g/…
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type IIIc: tja (“n.st.m.tja”)
tjaz tjis tjai t tjōz tjǫ̂ tjamaz tjanz army
tjis tjis tja ti tjōs t tjam tjans
čis čis ča te čis ča čim čins
Accusative changes to /t/…
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type IIId: kja (“n.st.m.kja”)
kjaz kjis kjai k kjōz kjǫ̂ kjamaz kjanz army
kjis kjis kja ki kjōs k kjam kjans
čis čis ča ke čis ča čim čins
Accusative changes to /k/…
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type IIIe: sja (“n.st.m.sja”)
sjaz sjis sjai s sjōz sjǫ̂ sjamaz sjanz army
sjis sjis sja si sjōs s sjam sjans
šis šis ša se šis ša šim šins
Accusative changes to /s/…

Strong ja-stem (neuter)

Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type I: Default (“n.st.n.ja”)
fergun fergunjis fergunjai fergun fergun fergunjǫ̂ fergunjamaz fergun mountain
faírguni faírgunjis faírgunja faírguni faírgunja faírgun faírgunjam faírgunja
fergúne fergýnis fergýnia fergúne fergýnia fergýnia fergýnim fergýnia
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type II: bja (“n.st.n.bja”)
lubją lubjis lubjai lubją lubjō lubjǫ̂ lubjamaz lubjō drug, poison
lubi lubjis lubja lubi lubja lubjē lubjam lubja
luve lybis lybia luve lybia lybia lybim lybia
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type II: dja (“n.st.n.dja”)
badją badjis badjai badją badjō badjǫ̂ badjamaz badjō bed
badi badjis badja badi badja badjē badjam badja
baðe beǧis beǧa baðe beǧa beǧa beǧim beǧa
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type II: ddja (“n.st.n.ddja”)
ai aijis aijai ai ai aijǫ̂ aijamaz ai egg
addi addjis addja addi addja addjē addjam addja
āde ǣǧis ǣǧa āde ǣǧa ǣǧa ǣǧim ǣǧa
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type II: gja (“n.st.n.gja”)
hawją hawjis hawjai hawją hawjō hawjǫ̂ hawjamaz hawjō hay
hawi hawjis hawja hawi hawja hawjē hawjam hawja
hauge heuǧis heuǧa hauge heuǧa heuǧa heuǧim heuǧa
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type II: tja (“n.st.n.tja”)
witją witjis witjai witją witjō witjǫ̂ witjamaz witjō knowledge
witi witjis witja witi witja witjē witjam witja
wite wičis wiča wite wiča wiča wičim wiča


ija- and ijō-stems

Strong ija-stem (masculine)

Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type I: Default (“n.st.m.ija”)
blōstrijaz blōstrijis blōstrijai blōstriją blōstrijōz blōstrijǫ̂ blōstrijamaz blōstrijanz worshipper
blōstrjis blōstrjis blōstrja blōstri blōstrjōs blōstr blōstrjam blōstrjans
blœ̄stris blœ̄stris blœ̄stria blōstre blœ̄stris blœ̄stria blœ̄strim blœ̄strins
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type II: bija (“n.st.m.bija”)
drōbijaz drōbijis drōbijai drōbiją drōbijōz drōbijǫ̂ drōbijamaz drōbijanz mud, muck
drōbeis drōbeis drōbja drōbi drōbjōs drōb drōbjam drōbjans
drœ̄vis drœ̄vis drœ̄bia drōve drœ̄vis drœ̄via drœ̄vim drœ̄vins
Accusative changes to /v/…
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type IIIa: dija (“n.st.m.dija”)
herdjaz herdjis herdjai herd herdjōz herdjǫ̂ herdjamaz herdjanz middle
haírdjis haírdjis haírdja haírdi haírdjōs haírd haírdjam haírdjans
herǧis herǧis herǧa herðe herǧis herǧa herǧim herǧins
Accusative changes to /ð/…
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type IIIb: gija (“n.st.m.gija”)
drangijaz drangijis drangijai drangiją drangijōz drangijǫ̂ drangijamaz drangijanz servant
*draggeis *draggeis *draggja *draggi *draggjōs *dragg *draggjam *draggjans
dreis dreis drea drange dreis drea dreim dreins
Accusative changes to /g/…
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type IIIc: tija (“n.st.m.tija”)
fastijaz fastijis fastijai fastiją fastijōz fastijǫ̂ fastijamaz fastijanz restraint
fasteis fasteis fastja fasti fastjōs fast fastjam fastjans
festis festis fesča faste fesčis fesča fesčim fesčins
Accusative changes to /t/…
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type IIId: kija (“n.st.m.kija”)
lǣkjaz lǣkjis lǣkjai lǣk lǣkjōz lǣkjǫ̂ lǣkjamaz lǣkjanz medicine
lēkeis lēkeis lēkja lēki lēkjōs lēk lēkjam lēkjans
lēkis lēkis lēča lēke lēčis lēča lēčim lēčins
Accusative changes to /k/…
Nom.Sg. Gen.Sg. Dat.Sg. Acc.Sg. Nom.Pl. Gen.Pl. Dat.Pl. Acc.Pl.  
Type IIIe: sija (“n.st.m.sija”)
bǣrusijaz bǣrusijis bǣrusijai bǣrusiją bǣrusijōz bǣrusijǫ̂ bǣrusijamaz bǣrusijanz parent
bēruseis bēruseis bērusja bērusi bērusjōs bērus bērusjam bērusjans
bērusis bērusis bēruša bēruse bērušis bēruša bērušim bērušins
Accusative changes to /s/…

Verbs

I haven't got quite as far as describing the verbs on this page yet, but everyone likes a good conjugation of their favorite irregular verbs, right? So here you go:

wisna ‘to be’

Preterit Present Imperative
Infinitive: Indicative Subjunctive Indicative Subjunctive
wisna ik was wēša im sīja
Present Participle: þū wast wēsis is sījas sī, ī
wisnaǧ sist was wēse ist sīja imda
Past Participle: wīs wēsum wēsim sīm, sījum sījam sīm
wisnas jūs wēsuþ wēsiþ sīþ, sījuþ sījaþ sīþ
īs wēsun wēsin sinþ sījan sinda

gēn, gangna ‘to be’

Preterit Present Imperative
Infinitive: Indicative Subjunctive Indicative Subjunctive
gēn, gangna ik ēǧa ēǧa gēm, ganga ganga
Present Participle: þū ēǧis ēǧis gēs, gangis gangas gē, gang
gangnaǧ sist ēǧa ēde gēþ, gangiþ ganga gangaða
Past Participle: wīs ēǧim ēǧim gēm, gangma gangam gēm, gangma
gēns jūs ēǧiþ ēǧiþ gēþ, gangiþ gangaþ gēþ, gangiþ
īs ēǧin ēǧin gēnþ, gangnaþ gangan gangnaða

Adjectives