Chapter 13: Strong Nouns
Noun Classes
Like adjectives and pronouns, Old English nouns are declined: different endings are attached to the stem of a word, and these endings indicate what case a word belongs to (and therefore, what grammatical function that word is fulfilling in a sentence.
Old English nouns are divided into three main groups, strong, weak, and "minor," based on the noun's stem and the endings that each noun takes in different grammatical cases.
A useful rule of thumb is that nouns whose stems end with a consonant are strong, while nouns whose stems end with a vowell (except for "u") are weak (we will learn the paradigms for weak nouns in the next chapter).
The strong declension is itself subdivided into first, second, and third declensions, which are also called "masculine," "neuter," and "feminine." Some grammar books will give you complicated and confusing explanations as to how masculine nouns are often masculine words but sometimes not, etc., etc.. Don't even bother. If you just think of Masculine, Neuter and Feminine as arbitrary names for categories (it would be better if they were called alpha, beta, and gamma) then you won't get confused. We'll call label the declensions first declension, second declension and third declension (weak nouns, the subject of Chapter 14, are often called fourth declension) but we'll also put in the "masculine," "neuter," and "feminine" labels since these are used so frequently in dictionaries and editions of Old English texts.
Strong First Declensions (Masculine) Nouns
While we'll use first declension to label these nouns which end in consonants; other grammars, dictionaries and editions will call the masculine. You may think of this group of nouns as the "spear-stone-king" group, since all of those words have traditional masculine associations and all are masculine strong first declension nouns.
Some Strong First Declension (Masculine) Nouns:
| Old English | Modern English |
|---|---|
| gar | spear |
| stan | stone |
| cyning | king |
| fugol | bird |
| dream | joy |
You'll find the endings for these nouns in the table below
(a dash - in the paradigm indicates that the stem gets no additional ending)
Strong First Declension (Masculine) Nouns Paradigm
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | - | as |
| Genitive | es | a |
| Accusative | - | as |
| Dative and Instrumental | e | um |
Strong First Declension (Masculine) Singulars: Examples
| Case | Old English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | cyning | king (subject) |
| Genitive | cyninges | of the king |
| Accusative | cyning | king (direct object) |
| Dative and Instrumental | cyninge | with the king king (indirect object) |
Strong First Declension (Masculine) Plurals: Examples
| Case | Old English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | cyningas | kings (subject) |
| Genitive | cyninga | of the kings |
| Accusative | cyningas | kings (direct object) |
| Dative and Instrumental | cyningum | with the kings kings (indirect object) |
Strong Second Declension (Neuter)
We'll use "second declension" to label those nouns which end in consonants but whose plurals use "u" instead of "as." Some dictionaries will call these nouns "neuter."
Some Strong Second Declension(Neuter) Nouns:
| Old English | Modern English |
|---|---|
| scip | ship |
| riht | law |
| mægen | power |
| tungol | star |
The endings for these nouns are given in the table below.
(the dash - indicates that the stem gets no additional ending)
Strong Second Declension (Neuter) Nouns Paradigm
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | - | u |
| Genitive | es | a |
| Accusative | - | u |
| Dative and Instrumental | e | um |
Note that the only real difference between the first declension (masculine) and second declension (neuter) ending occurs in the nominative and accusative plurals, which are u. The rest of the paradigm is the same for both first declensions and second declension nouns.
Strong Second Declension (Neuter) Singulars: Examples
| Case | Old English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | scip | ship (subject) |
| Genitive | scipes | of the ship |
| Accusative | scip | ship (direct object) |
| Dative/Instrumental | scipe | with the ship (indirect object) |
Strong Second Declension (Neuter) Plurals: Examples
| Case | Old English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | scipu | animals (subject) |
| Genitive | scipa | of the ships |
| Accusative | scipu | ships (direct object) |
| Dative and Instrumental | scipum | with the ships animals (indirect object) |
Strong Third Declension(Feminine) Nouns
What we'll call "third declension" nouns, dictionaries may label as "feminine." They include the Old English words for "help," "need" and "gift."
Some Strong Third Declensions (Feminine) Nouns
| Old English | Modern English |
|---|---|
| liornung | learning |
| þearf | need |
| rest | rest |
| geoc | help |
| giefu | gift |
The endings for these nouns are given in the table below
(the dash - indicates that the stem gets no additional ending)
Strong Third Declension (Feminine) Nouns Paradigm
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | - | a or e |
| Genitive | e | a or ena |
| Accusative | e | a or e |
| Dative and Instrumental | e | um |
Yes, there really are two possibilities for the nominative, genitive and accusative plurals.
Strong Third Declension (Feminine) Singulars: Examples
| Case | Old English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | giefu | gift (subject) |
| Genitive | giefe | of the gift |
| Accusative | giefe | gift (direct object) |
| Dative and Instrumental | giefe | with the gift gift (indirect object) |
Strong Third Declension (Feminine) Plurals: Examples
| Case | Old English | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | giefa | gifts (subject) |
| Genitive | giefena | of the gifts |
| Accusative | giefa | gifts (direct object) |
| Dative/Instrumental | giefum | with the gifts gifts (indirect object) |