Vocalic stems | Consonantal stems | ||||||||
Strong declension1 | n -stems (weak declension) | Root-stems | Other minor stems: r -,s-, nd- | ||||||
a -stems | ō -stems | i- stems | u -stems | ||||||
ja- stems | jō -stems | ||||||||
wа -stems | wō -stems | ||||||||
Division according to gender | |||||||||
MN | F | MNF | MF | MNF | MF | MNF | |||
Division according to length of the root-syllable | |||||||||
short long | short long | short long | short long | ||||||
1 Vocalic stems are also called the "strong" declension; one of the consonantal stems — the n-stems — are termed the "weak" declension. | |||||||||
Declensions of Nouns
Strong Declensions (Vocalic Stems)
a-stems | |||||||
Singular | |||||||
M | short-stemmed N | long-stemmed N | ja -stems M | wa -stems N | |||
Nom. fisc Gen. fisces Dat. fisce Acc. fisc | scip scipes scipe scip | dēor dēores dēore dēor | ende endes ende ende | cnēo(w) cnēowes cnēowe cnēo(w) | |||
Plural | |||||||
M | short-stemmed N | long-stemmed N | ja -stems M | wa -stems N | |||
Nom. fisces Gen. fisca Dat. fiscum Acc. fiscas (NE fish) | scipu scipa scipum scipu (NE scip) | dēor dēora dēorum dēor (NE deer) | endas enda endum endas (NE end) | cnēo(w) cnēowa cnēowum cnēo(w) (NE knee) | |||
Strong Declensions (Vocalic Stems)
(continued)
Singular | |||||
ō-stems short-stemmed long-stemmed F | i- stems short-stemmed M | u-stems short-stemmed long-stemmed M | |||
Nom. | talu | wund | mete | sunu | feld |
Gen. | tale | wunde | metes | suna | felda |
Dat. | tale | wunde | mete | suna | felda |
Acc. | tale | wunde | mete | sunu | felda |
Plural | |||||
Nom. | tala, -e | wunda, -e | mete, -as | suna | felda |
Gen. | tala (-ena) | wunda (-ena) | meta | suna | felda |
Dat. | talum | wundum | metum | sunum | feldum |
Acc. | tala, -e | wunda, -e | mete, -as | suna | felda |
(NE tale) (NE wound) | ('food', NE meat) | (NE son) | ( NE field) |
Consonantal Stems
Singular | |||
n-stems (weak declension) M N F | root-stems M F | ||
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. | nama ēаге tunзe naman ēaran tunзan naman ēaran tunзan naman ēaran tunзan | fōt fōtes fēt fōt | mūs mýs, mūse mýs mūs |
Plural | |||
n-stems (weak declension) M N F | root-stems M F | ||
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. | naman ēaran tunзan namena ēагеnа tunзena namum ēarum tunзum naman ēaran tunзan (NE name) (NE ear) (NE tongue) | fēt fōta fōtum fēt (NE foot) | mýs mūsa mūsum mýs (NE mouse) |
The pronoun.
Personal pronouns. Their categories.
Declension of Personal Pronouns
First person | |||
Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc | ic mīn mē mec, mē | wit uncer unc uncit | wē ūre, ūser ūs ūsic, ūs |
Second person | |||
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. | þū þīn þē þēc, þē | 3it incer inc incit, inc | Зē ēower ēow ēowic, ēow |
Third person | |||
Singular | Plural | ||
M F N | All genders | ||
Nom. Gen. Dot. Ace. | hē hēo, hīo hit his hire, hiere his him hire, hiere him hine hīe, hī, hý hit | hīe, hī, hý, hēo hira, heora, hiera, hyra him, heom hīe, hī, hý, hēo |
Demonstrative pronouns. There were two types of demostrative pronouns in OE: the prototype of that (sē, sēo, þæt) and the prototype of this (þes Masc., þēos Fem., þis Neut. and þās pl.)
Declension of sē, sēo, þæt
Case | Singular | Plural | ||
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Instr. | M sē, se þæs þǽm, pām þone þý,þon | N þæt þæs þǽm, þām þææt þý, þon | F sēo þǽre þǽrе þā þǽre | All genders þā þāra, þǽrа þām, þǽm þa þǽm, þām |
Other classes of pronouns. Interrogative pronouns – hwā, Masc. and Fem., hwæt, Neut. (NE who and what). Indefinite pronouns: ān, ǽniз, nān, nānþinз, nāwiht/ nōht (NE one, any, none, nothing, ‘nothing’/ not).
The adjectives.
Grammatical categories. Weak and strong declension.
The strong and weak declensions arose due to the use of several stem-forming suffixes. In the strong declension there appeared the set of endings mainly coincedind with the endings of a-stens and ō-stems of nouns. Some emdimgs in the strong declension of adjectives have no parallel in the noun paradigms; they are similar to the endings of pronouns (Dat. Sing., Acc. sing.Masc., some Fem. And pl. Endings). Therefore the strong declension is sometimes called the “pronominal” declension. As for the weak declension, it uses the samemarkers as n-stems of nouns exept that in the Gen pl. The pronominal ending –ra is often used instead of the weak –ena.
Singular | ||||
Strong (pure M | a- and ō-stems) N F | Weak M N | F | |
Nom. blind Gen. blindes Dat. blindum Acc. blindne Instr. blinde | blind blindes blindum blind blinde | blind blindre blindre blinde blindre | blinda blinde blindanblindan blindan blindan blindan blinde blindan blindan | blinde blindan blindan blindan blindan |
Plural | ||||
All genders | ||||
Nom. blinde Gen. blindra Dat. blindum Acc. blinde Instr. blindum (NE blind) | blind blinda,-e blindra blindra blindum blindum blind blinda, -e blindum blindum | blindan blindra, -ena blindum blindan blindum | ||
The difference between the strong and the weak declensions is also semantic. Unlike a noun, an adjective did nopt belong to a certain declension. Most adjectives could decline in both ways The choice of the declension was determined by a number of factors: the syntactical function of the adjective, the degree of comparison and the presence of noun determiners. The adjective had a strong form when used predicatively and when used attributively without any determiners. The weak form was imployed when the adjective was preceded by a demontstrative pronoun or the Gen. Case of personal pronouns.
Some adjectives were always declined strong: eall, maniз,ōþer (NE all, many, other), while others were always weak: adjectives in the superlative and comparative degrees, ordinal numerals, the adjective ilca (NE same).
The strong forms were associated with the meaning of indefiniteness, the weak forms – with the meaning of definiteness.
Degrees of comparison.
Positive, comparative, superlative degrees. Means of forming the degrees of comparison: suffixation, suffixation plus vowel interchange, suppletion.