Proto-Germanic/Nouns and adjectives
Welcome to the second lesson of Proto-Germanic!
Nouns[edit | edit source]
Masculine nouns[edit | edit source]
| *dagaz "day" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | *dagaz | *dagōz |
| Vocative | *dag | |
| Accusative | *dagą | *daganz |
| Genitive | *dagas *dagis |
*dagǭ |
| Dative | *dagai | *dagamz |
| Instrumental | *dagō | |
Note that nouns containing *-e- always umlauted to *-i- before all endings containing *-i- in first syllable (nominative *berg-az "mountain, hill", but genitive *birg-is). Noun stems ending in *-j- or *-ij- have their own declensions with unique genitive singular ending (there are two variants of genitive singular, however):
| Nominative singular | *harjaz "army" | *hirdijaz "shepherd" |
|---|---|---|
| Genitive singular | *harjas | *hirdijas |
| *haris | *hirdīs |
So, all of the expected sequences *-ji- and *-iji- instead becoming *-i- and *-ī- as a result of regular sound changes.
Feminine nouns[edit | edit source]
| *gebō "day" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | *gebō | *gebōz |
| Vocative | ||
| Accusative | *gebǭ | *gebōz |
| Genitive | *gebōz | *gebǭ |
| Dative | *gebōi | *gebōmz |
| Instrumental | *gebō | |
Neuter nouns[edit | edit source]
Note that nouns in the neuter gender have syncretism in nominative, vocative, and accusative cases.
| *wurdą "word" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative Vocative Accusative |
*wurdą | *wurdō |
| Genitive | *wurdas *wurdis |
*wurdǭ |
| Dative | *wurdai | *wurdamz |
| Instrumental | *wurdō | |
| *lambaz "lamb" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative Vocative Accusative |
*lambaz | *lambizō |
| Genitive | *lambizz | *lambizǭ |
| Dative | *lambizī | *lambizumz |
| Instrumental | *lambizē | |
Retention of neuter -az declension is a complex issue. Anglian dialect of Old English fully preserved this declension (see lamb), while the rest of West Germanic only in the plural (the singular endings were replaced by more common masculine counterparts, e.g. dative *lambai from earlier *lambizī). Old Norse and Gothic fully merge this to the masculine -az declension.