Glommish/Middle
Strong vocalic declensions
Note: Declensions are named according to their form in Proto-Germanic. Often intervening sound changes render the once transparent stem endings opaque, and the name may no longer make much sense synchronically.
The -a declension
This declension has as counterparts the second declension (us/um) of Latin, and the omicron declension (os/on) of Greek. It contains masculine and neuter nouns.
| tag; tagā (-a) day m. |
wort; wort word n. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||||
| Nominative | tag | – | tagā (-a) | –ā (–a) | wort | – | wort | – |
| Accusative | tag | – | tagā (-a) | –ā (–a) | wort | – | wort | – |
| Genitive | tages (-as) | –es (–as) | tago | –o | wortes (-as) | –es (–as) | worto | –o |
| Dative | tage (-a) | –e (–a) | tagum (-om, -un, -on) | –um (–om, –un, –on) | worte (-a) | –e (–a) | wortum (-om, -un, -on) | –um (–om, –un, –on) |
| Instrumental | tagu (-o) | –u (–o) | -- | -- | wortu (-o) | –u (–o) | -- | -- |
Examples of masculine nouns declined like tag "day": bërg "mountain", wëg "way", geist "spirit", himil "heaven", tiufal "devil", kuning "king". Notes:
- Dissyllabic nouns ending in -al, -ar and -an, with long stems, sometimes drop the -a- before an ending beginning with a vowel, e.g. masculine singular ackar "acre, field", genitive singular ackres. Note that in these cases, the -a- is an epenthetic vowel that was not originally present (compare Gothic akrs < Proto-Germanic *akraz), and so the "deletion" of this vowel is really the preservation of the original form.
- Proper names in the -a declension take a pronominal accusative ending -an, e.g. nominative Petrus, accusative Petrusan; similarly truhtīn "God, Lord", accusative truhtīnan.
Examples of neuter nouns declined like wort: barn "child", sēr "pain", swërt "sword", honag "honey". Notes:
- The situation with long-stemmed dissyllabic nouns ending in -al, -ar and -an is the same as for the corresponding masculines, e.g. nominative zwīfal "doubt", genitive zwīfles.
- Diminutives in -īn and -līn, e.g. magatīn "little maid" (neuter!), fingarlīn "little finger", are declined the same except in the Upper German dialects. In those dialects, final -n is dropped in the nominative and accusative, and furthermore in Allemannic the nominative and accusative plural end in -iu.
- The neuter plural should have had the ending -u in short-stem neuters, but has lost it due to analogy with long-stem neuters, which exhibit syncope as in Old Saxon and Old English.[1]
The -ja declension
This declension was really just the -a declension with a j immediately preceding. However, due to various sound laws, a new declension subcategory has arisen that does not exactly follow the form of the plain -a declension. Similar developments occurred in Greek and the Slavic languages, among others.
This declension has as counterparts the second declension nouns in (-ius/-ium) of Latin. The counterparts in Greek are some second declension nouns in (-ios/-ion), as well as many that show effects of palatalization (e.g., -zdos < *-gyos or *-dyos; -llos < *-lyos; -ptos < -*pyos; -ssos or -ttos < -*tyos; -airos/-eiros/-oiros < *-aryos/-eryos/-oryos; -ainos/-einos/-oinos < *-anyos/enyos/onyos; etc., and similarly for neuter nouns in -ion or *-yon). It contains masculine and neuter nouns.
| hirti; hirte / hirtā (-a) herdsman m. |
kunni; kunni race n. | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||||||||||||
| Early | Late | Early | Late | Early | Late | Early | Late | |||||||||
| Nominative | hirti | –i | hirti | –i | hirte | –e | hirtā (-a) | –ā (–a) | kunni | -i | kunni | -i | kunni | -i | kunni | -i |
| Accusative | hirti | –i | hirti | –i | hirte | –e | hirtā (-a) | –ā (–a) | kunni | -i | kunni | -i | kunni | -i | kunni | -i |
| Genitive | hirtes | –es | hirtes | –es | hirteo (-io) | –eo (–io) | hirto | –o | kunnes | –es | kunnes | –es | kunneo (-io) | –eo (–io) | kunno | –o |
| Dative | hirtie | –ie | hirte | –e | hirtum (-un, -on) | –um (–un, –on) | hirtim (-in) | –im (–in) | kunnie | –ie | kunne | –e | kunnum (-un, -on) | –um (–un, –on) | kunnim (-in) | –im (–in) |
| Instrumental | hirtiu | –iu | hirtu (-o) | –u (–o) | -- | -- | -- | -- | kunniu | –iu | kunnu (-o) | –u (–o) | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Note that the transition from early to late forms occurred during the ninth century. Late-form ja-stems are conjugated identically to a-stems except for the added -i in the neuter nominative and accusative, and in the masculine nominative and accusative singular. Compare the equivalent nouns in Old English, e.g. rīce "kingdom" (neuter).
Sample nouns like hirti: agent nouns in -āri (-ari, -eri), e.g. wahtāri (-ari, -eri) "watchman", lērāri "teacher", scrībāri "writer, scribe"; also, karkāri "prison", altāri "altar", rucki "back", phuzzi, puzzi "well", kāsi "cheese".
Sample nouns like kunni: enti "end", rīchi "kingdom", betti "bed", gizungi "language", finstarnessi "darkness", heri "army" (genitive singular heries, dative singular herie, herige).
The -wa declension
| snēo, snē; snēwā (-a) snow m. |
kneo; kneo knee n. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||||
| Nominative | snēo, snē | –o, – | snēwā (-a) | –wā (–wa) | kneo | –o, – | kneo | –o, – |
| Accusative | snēo, snē | –o, – | snēwā (-a) | –wā (–wa) | kneo | –o, – | kneo | –o, – |
| Genitive | snēwes | –wes | snēwo | –wo | knëwes | –wes | knëwo | –wo |
| Dative | snēwe | –e | snēwum (–un, –on) | –um (–un, –on) | knëwe | –e | knëwum (–un, –on) | –um (–un, –on) |
Notes:
- -o in the nominative can be dropped following a long vowel.
- When a consonant precedes the -w, an epenthetic vowel -a- (sometimes -o- or -e-) appears in the oblique cases, e.g. neuter trëso "treasure", genitive trësawes.
Among the other nouns in this declension:
- Masculine lēo "grave", sēo "sea", scato (genitive scatawes) "shadow", bū (genitive būwes) "dwelling".
- Neuter rēo "corpse", zëso (genitive zësawes) "right side", smëro (genitive smërawes) "grease".
The -ō declension
This declension counterparts the first declension (a) of Latin, and the alpha declension (a/as) of Greek. It contains feminine nouns. The nominative, which should have had the ending -u, has been merged with the accusative in -a.[2]
| gëba; gëbā gift f. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Nominative | gëba | –a | gëbā | –ā |
| Accusative | gëba | –a | gëbā | –ā |
| Genitive | gëba (-u, -o) | –a (–u, –o) | gëbōnō | –ōnō |
| Dative | gëbu (-o) | –u (–o) | gëbōm (-ōn, -on) | –ōm (–ōn, –on) |
Sample nouns of this declension: gëba "gift", ërda "earth", ēra "honor", zala "number", triuwa "fidelity", corunga "temptation", hertida "hardness", miltida "compassion", gi-nāda "favor", lōsunga "deliverance", stunta "time".
The -jō declension
| sunta; sunte, -eā (-iā) / suntā sin f. |
kuningin; kuninginnā queen f. | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||||||||||||
| Early #1 | Early #2 | Late | Early #1 | Early #2 | Late | |||||||||||
| Nominative | sunte | –e | suntea (-ia) | –ea (–ia) | sunta | –a | sunte | –e | suntea (-ia) | –ea (–ia) | suntā | –ā | kuningin | –in | kuninginnā | –innā |
| Accusative | sunte | –e | suntea (-ia) | –ea (–ia) | sunta | –a | sunte | –e | suntea (-ia) | –ea (–ia) | suntā | –ā | kuninginna (-in) | –inna (–in) | kuninginnā | –innā |
| Genitive | sunte | –e | suntea (-ia) | –ea (–ia) | sunta (-u, -o) | –a (–u, –o) | sunteōno | –eōno | sunteōno | –eōno | suntōno | –ōno | kuninginna | –inna | kuninginnōno | –innōno |
| Dative | suntiu | –iu | suntiu | –iu | suntu (-o) | –u (–o) | sunteōm | –eōm | sunteōm | –eōm | suntōm (-ōn) | –ōm (–ōn) | kuninginnu | –innu | kuninginnōm (-ōn) | –innōm (–innōn) |
Sample nouns like sunta: hella "hell", sibba, sippa "peace", minna "love", krippa "manger".
Sample nouns like kuningin: forasagin "prophetess", friuntin "friend", burdin "burden".
The -i declension
This declension counterparts the vowel stems of the third declension (is) of Latin, and the third declension of Greek. It contains masculine and feminine nouns. Note that masculine nouns have become identical to -a stem nouns in the singular, while feminine nouns have preserved the original declension.
| gast; gesti guest m. |
anst; ensti favor f. | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||||||||||||
| Early | Late | Early | Late | Early | Late | Early | Late | |||||||||
| Nominative | gast | – | gast | – | gesti | –i | gesti | –i | anst | – | ansti | – | ensti | –i | ensti | –i |
| Accusative | gast | – | gast | – | gesti | –i | gesti | –i | anst | – | ansti | – | ensti | –i | ensti | –i |
| Genitive | gastes | –es | gastes | –es | gesteo (-io) | –eo (–io) | gesto | –o | ensti | –i | ensti | –i | ensteo (-io) | –eo (–io) | ensto | –o |
| Dative | gaste | –e | gaste | –e | gestim (-in) | –im (–in) | gesten | –en | ansti | –i | ansti | –i | enstim (-in) | –im (–in) | ensten | –en |
| Instrumental | gastiu (gestiu) | –iu | gastu | –u | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
The -u declension
This declension was much reduced compared to other old Germanic languages such as Old English. Most nouns were transferred outright to the i- or sometimes the a-declension, and the remaining nouns were heavily influenced by the i-declension—only the nominative and accusative singular are different, ending in -u.
| situ; siti custom m. |
fihu cattle n. | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | ||||||||||||||
| Early | Late | Early | Late | |||||||||||||
| Nominative | situ | –u | situ | –u | siti | –i | siti | –i | fihu | –u | ||||||
| Accusative | situ | –u | situ | –u | siti | –i | siti | –i | fihu | –u | ||||||
| Genitive | sites | –es | sites | –es | siteo (-io) | –eo (–io) | sito | –o | fihes | –es | ||||||
| Dative | site | –e | site | –e | sitim (-in) | –im (–in) | siten | –en | fihe | –e | ||||||
| Instrumental | sitiu (sitiu) | –iu | situ | –u | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||||||
Notes:
- Five masculine nouns follow this declension: situ "custom", fridu "peace", hugu "understanding", sigu "victory", and sunu "son" (also sun).
- Only a single neuter noun, fihu "cattle", follows the declension, and exists only in the singular.
- The only trace of a feminine u-declension is in the word hant "hand", declined as a feminine i-stem except in the dative plural, where the old u-declension forms hantum, -un, -on persist.
The -ī declension
This class consists of feminine abstract nouns and came about through the falling together of two declensions that were still different in Gothic: compare the Gothic -ei stems (a subclass of the weak declension, formed from adjectives, e.g. diupei "depth", genitive diupeins, from diups "deep") and -eins stems (a subclass of the i-declension, formed from Class I weak verbs, e.g. dáupeins "a dipping", genitive dáupeináis, from dáupjan "to dip").
| hōhī (hōhīn); hōhī (hōhīn) height f. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Nominative | hōhī (hōhīn) | –ī (–īn) | hōhī (hōhīn) | –ī (–īn) |
| Accusative | hōhī (hōhīn) | –ī (–īn) | hōhī (hōhīn) | –ī (–īn) |
| Genitive | hōhī (hōhīn) | –ī (–īn) | hōhīno | –īno |
| Dative | hōhī (hōhīn) | –ī (–īn) | hōhīm (hōhīn) | –īm (–īn) |
Examples of other members of this class: scōnī "beauty", suoẓẓī "sweetness", snëllī "quickness", tiufī "depth", menigī, managī "multitude", irstantanī "resurrection", toufī "a dipping", welī "choice", leitī "a leading", riudī "mange".