Valthungian/Nouns

Noun classes differ by suffix 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 below: See “Strong” vs. “Weak”). There is also a small class of nouns in /r/ having to do with familial relations. Some former noun classes in Gothic (such as consontant‑stem and nd‑stem nouns) have been regularised in Valthungian through paradigmatic levelling, and their declensions have been assimilated into other classes.

Every noun in Valthungian (and many of the older Germanic languages, as well as modern German and Icelandic) 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 nouns usually take an ending of ‑s or ‑a 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 takes ‑aro, borrowed from Latin. The dative plural takes ‑am, but in many cases this ending undergoes a process of metathesis, rendering it ‑ma. Finally, the accusative plural of masculine and feminine nouns is usually ‑ans, but again may metathesise to ‑nas; neuter accusative plurals generally take ‑a.

Most of the actual declensions of nouns are fairly standard – much more standardised, in fact, than Gothic – however, the various phonological rules governing the language create a great deal of variation (See Phonology). It is important 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.

a‑Stems (Masculine & Neuter)

This is by far the most common noun class, and technically includes the feminine ō‑stems as well, though we describe those here separately. The masculine and neuter forms of all a‑stems differ only in the nominative and accusative.

a‑Stems

These nouns end in a consonant and are followed by a simple ending with no drama. There are some minor variations, more of which will be detailed below.

Historically, this is the development of the standard a‑stem from Proto‑Germanic:

Strong Masculine a‑stem: slēps ‘sleep’
	Singular				Plural
n.st.m.a	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Proto‑Germanic	*slǣp‑az	*slǣp‑is	*slǣp‑ai	*slǣp‑ą	*slǣp‑ōz	*slǣp‑ǫ̂	*slǣp‑amaz	*slǣp‑anz
(Gothic)	slēp‑s	slēp‑is	slēp‑a	slēp‑∅	slēp‑ōs	slēp‑ē	slēp‑am	slēp‑ans
Griutungi	*slēp‑s	*slēp‑is	*slēp‑a	*slēp‑∅	*slēp‑ōs	*slēp‑ē	*slēp‑am	*slēp‑ans
Old Valthungian	*sleip‑s	*sleip‑is	*sleip‑a	*sleip‑∅	*sleip‑ous	*sleip‑ouruv	*sleip‑am	*sleip‑ans
Middle Valthungian	sleip‑s	sleip‑is	sleip‑a	sleip‑∅	sleip‑os	sleip‑oru	sleip‑ᴍ	sleip‑ɴs
Valthungian	slēp‑s	slēp‑is	slēp‑a	slēp‑∅	slēp‑as	slēp‑aro	slēp‑ma	slēp‑nas

Strong masculine a-stem noun slēps, ‘slēp’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	slēps	slēpis	slēpa	slēp
Pl.	slēpas	slēparo	slēpma	slēpnas

Strong neuter a-stem noun plat, ‘plat’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	plat	platis	plata	plat
Pl.	plata	plataro	platma	plata

a‑Stem Variations

ba‑ and da‑Stems

Stems which end in ‑ba or ‑da in Proto‑Germanic become unvoiced in the nominative and accusative singular in Valthungian. Specifically, ba‑stems end in f in the nominative and accusative, and v elsewhere. Historically, the Valthungian ba‑stems also include the fa‑stems, while the da‑stems include the þa‑stems, which have come to follow the same voicing patterns.

Strong masculine a-stem noun vlufs, ‘wolf’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	vlufs	vluvis	vluva	vluf
Pl.	vluvas	vluvaro	vluvma	vluvnas

Strong neuter a-stem noun draf, ‘job’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	draf	dravis	drava	draf
Pl.	drava	dravaro	dravma	drava

Strong masculine a-stem noun mōþs, ‘disposition’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	mōþs	mōðis	mōða	mōþ
Pl.	mōðas	mōðaro	mōðma	mōðnas

Strong neuter a-stem noun vroþ, ‘word’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	vroþ	vroðis	vroða	vroþ
Pl.	vroða	vroðaro	vroðma	vroða

ga‑Stems

Stems ending in ‑gaz are regular except for the masculine nominative singular which has an ending of ‑ǧ where we would otherwise expect ‑gs. However, in Old Valthungian this stem patterned like the ba‑ and da‑stems, because /ɡ/ also became spirantised in the same environments as /b/ and /d/ (spellt ⟨gy⟩). (Neuter g‑stem nouns are regular.)

Strong masculine a-stem noun daǧ, ‘day’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	daǧ	dagis	daga	dag
Pl.	dagas	dagaro	dagma	dagnas

ha‑Stems

(skōfs) nom & acc sg have f; gu elsewhere

iha‑Stems

iha‑stems (slīs) it gets weird...

ma‑Stems

Masculine and neuter ma‑stem nouns are regular except that the dative plural ends in ‑am rather than ‑ma.

Strong masculine a-stem noun drǭs, ‘dream’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	drǭms	drǭmis	drǭma	drǭm
Pl.	drǭmas	drǭmaro	drǭmam	drǭmnas

Strong neuter a-stem noun rūm, ‘space’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	rūm	rūmis	rūma	rūm
Pl.	rūma	rūmaro	rūmam	rūma

mba‑Stems

The mba‑stems are largely regular, but the nasal‑stop combination prevents the stop (/b/) from being spirantised. (The same thing happens to the nda‑stems.) Further, the cluster /mb/ cannot exist word‑finally or before a consonant, so the masculine and neuter nominative and accusative singular are reduced to an ending of ‑m rather than the expected **‑mb, and the dative plural and masculine accusative plural do not show metathesis (i.e. they are ‑am and ‑ans, respectively, rather than the expected **‑ma and **‑nas.)

Strong masculine a-stem noun lams, ‘sheep’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	lams	lambis	lamba	lam
Pl.	lambas	lambaro	lambam	lambans

Strong neuter a-stem noun kram, ‘cabbage’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	kram	krambis	kramba	kram
Pl.	kramba	krambaro	krambam	kramba

na‑Stems

• na‑stems (himins, lapins) – no metathesis in dative or accusative plural

nda‑Stems

• nda‑stems (hunǧ, ganǧ) nom. sg. has ‑nǧ instead of **‑nds

ra‑Stems

• ra‑stems (wer, bēr) – no nominative singular ‑s

sa‑Stems

• sa‑stems (drus, ams) – no nominative singular ‑s

za‑Stems

• za‑stems (mims, gǣs) – s in nom and acc; ž elsewhere, no nominative singular ‑s

Geminate a‑Stems

• geminate‑stems (puls, swams) single sonorant in nom and acc sg; extended syllabic reflex elsewhere

Syllabic a‑Stems

• syllabic stems (bagmas, naglas) – no metathesis, ‑a(‑) gets added where necessary

Syllabic ra‑Stems

• • syllabic ra‑stems (þundra, naðra) – syllabic, also no nominative singular ‑s

ja‑Stems

The ja‑stem nouns contain a short vowel followed by a single consonant which is followed by ‑j‑ which is in turn followed by the a‑stem endings. At least that’s how it was two millennia ago, but now the ‑j‑ has vanished, the endings disappeared, the vowel (usually) subjected to umlaut, and the stem’s final consonant (usually) subjected to palatalisation.

Strong masculine ja-stem noun tepis, ‘carpet’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	tepis	tepis	tepia	tape
Pl.	tepis	tepiro	tepim	tepins

Strong neuter ja-stem noun kafe, ‘coffee’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	kafe	kefis	kefia	kafe
Pl.	kefia	kefiro	kefim	kefia

ija‑Stems

The ija‑stems are a variation of the ja‑stems, but these follow stems with long vowels or multiple consonants or syllables before the ending. (This is the modern Valthungian reflex of something called Siever’s Law.) The main difference between ja‑stems and ija‑stems in Modern Valthungian is that there is no palatalisation in the nominative and genitive singular, though there is still umlaut. (This same pattern occurs in the class 1 weak verbs.)

Strong masculine ja-stem noun mīris, ‘observer’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	mīris	mīris	mīria	mīre
Pl.	mīris	mīriro	mīrim	mīrins

Strong neuter ija-stem noun futle, ‘full moon’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	futle	fytlis	fytlia	futle
Pl.	fytlia	fytliro	fytlim	fytlia

wa‑Stems

The wa‑stems nouns have ‑w‑ after the stem instead of ‑j‑, and they tend to be a lot less dramatic than the j‑stems because there is no palatalisation or umlaut or Siever’s Law to worry about. They are, however, plagued by another rule called Holtzmann’s Law – or an extension of it, anyway – which causes an unexpected ‑g‑ to pop up in a few of the declensions.

Strong masculine wa-stem noun skaðus, ‘shadow’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	skaðus	skaðugis	skaðuga	skaðo
Pl.	skaðugas	skaðugaro	skaðugma	skaðugnas

Strong neuter wa-stem noun milo, ‘flour’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	milo	milugis	miluga	milo
Pl.	miluga	milugaro	milugma	miluga

wja‑Stems

The wja‑stems combine all of the worst aspects of the w‑ and j‑stems, but fortunately they’re a pretty small group.

ō‑Stems (Feminine)

The ō‑stems are really just the feminine version of the a‑stems, historically speaking.

ō‑Stems

The pure ō‑stems have even less drama than the masculine and neuter a‑stems. No metathesis, no umlaut, no palatalisation: pretty straightforward, really.

Strong feminine ō-stem noun snuža, ‘daughter‑in‑law’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	snuža	snužis	snuža	snuža
Pl.	snužas	snužaro	snužam	snužas

jō‑Stems

The jō‑stems have umlaut, but it is persistent throughout the paradigm, so there are no extra steps to learn. There are the usual palatal variations as well, but they are also consistent.

Strong feminine jō-stem noun henia, ‘hen’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	henia	henis	henia	henia
Pl.	henis	heniro	henim	henis

ijō‑Stems

The ijō‑stems are a bit weird, mainly because the nominative singular seems to have collapsed in Proto‑Germanic into a single ‑ī (more of Siever’s shenanigans), leaving a modern reflex of a simple ‑e following an unumlauted, unpalatalised stem. Otherwise, the ijō‑stems are indistinguishable from the jō‑stems in modern Valthungian.

Strong feminine ijō-stem noun hundre, ‘century’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	hundre	hyndris	hyndria	hyndria
Pl.	hyndris	hyndriro	hyndrim	hyndris

wō‑Stems

The wō‑stems are uneventful, differing from the standard ō‑stems only in that a /u/ shows up in some of the endings instead of the standard /a/.

Strong feminine ō-stem noun bandua, ‘symbol’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	bandua	bandus	bandua	bandua
Pl.	bandus	banduro	bandum	bandus

i‑Stems (Masculine & Feminine)

i‑Stems

The i‑stems are very similar to the a‑stems – the singular declension is identical to the masculine a‑stems – but the plural resembles the ja‑stems, and the nominative plural has umlaut. The i‑stems can be masculine or feminine, and their declensions are identical. There are no neuter i‑stem nouns.

Most nouns which were part of the “consonant‑stems” in Gothic (such as miluks or mēnaþs were assimilated into the i‑stem class.

Strong feminine i-stem noun dluþs, ‘feast’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	dluþs	dluðis	dluða	dluþ
Pl.	dlyðis	dluðaro	dluðim	dluðins

Strong masculine i-stem noun mats, ‘meal’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	mats	matis	mata	mat
Pl.	metis	mataro	matim	matins

u‑Stems (all genders)

u‑Stems

The u‑stems are similar to the i‑stems except – you guessed it! – the stems have /u/ instead of /i/. The masculine and feminine declensions are identical (like the i‑stems), but there are also neuter u‑stems. A large number of u‑stems are made up of borrowed Latin words ending in ‑us and Greek words ending in ‑ος (‑os). The genitive and dative singular of the u‑stems has been assimilated from the wa‑stems, and there is both umlaut and palatalisation in the nominative and genitive plural.

Strong masculine u-stem noun þāsus, ‘badger’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	þāsus	þāsus	þāsua	þāso
Pl.	þǣsis	þǣšigaro	þāsum	þāsuns

Strong feminine u-stem noun handus, ‘hand’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	handus	handus	handua	hando
Pl.	henǧis	henǧigaro	handum	handuns

Strong neuter u-stem noun šalto, ‘peach’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	šalto	šaltus	šaltua	šalto
Pl.	šaltua	šelčigaro	šaltum	šaltua

ju‑Stem

The ju‑stems are to the u‑stems as the ja‑stems are to the a‑stems. There is umlaut and palatalisation throughout the paradigm. Once again, the masculine and feminine declensions are identical.

The neuter u‑stem only exists in newly‑borrowed Latin or Latinate words ending in ‑ium (e.g. aluminio ‘aluminum’), while earlier borrowings of neuter nouns in ‑ium tend to be ja‑ or ija‑stems (e.g. ōraloge ‘clock’, from hōrologium)

Strong masculine ju-stem noun drynis, ‘voice’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	drynis	drynis	drynia	drynio
Pl.	drynis	drynigaro	drynim	drynis

Strong neuter ju-stem noun krœumio, ‘chrome’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	krœumio	krœumis	krœumio	krœumio
Pl.	krœumio	krœumigaro	krœumim	krœumio

r‑Stems (all genders)

The r‑stems are a very small class of nouns consisting of family members. Here is the full list:

Strong masculine r-stem noun faðra, ‘father’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	faðra	faðris	faðra	faðra
Pl.	feðris	faðro	faðrum	faðruns

Strong feminine r-stem noun mōðra, ‘mother’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	mōðra	mōðris	mōðra	mōðra
Pl.	mœuðris	mōðro	mōðrum	mōðruns

Strong neuter r-stem noun ǧutra, ‘grandchild’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	ǧutra	ǧutris	ǧutra	ǧutra
Pl.	ǧutris	ǧutro	ǧutrum	ǧutruns

n‑Stems (all genders)

The n‑stems, sometimes known as “weak nouns,” decline in the same manner as weak adjectives. Like the a‑, ō‑, and u‑stems, they have various reflexes depending on the presence of glides between the stem and the endings. Weak neuter nouns are very rare, and mostly refer to parts of the body.

ōn‑Stem

Weak masculine ô-stem noun gumna, ‘person’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	guma	gumins	gumin	gumna
Pl.	gumnas	gumnaro	gumma	gumnas

Weak feminine ǭ-stem noun drjusa, ‘cliff’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	drjusa	drjusans	drjusan	drjusan
Pl.	drjusans	drjusnaro	drjusam	drjusans

Weak neuter ô-stem noun hretna, ‘heart’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	hreta	hretins	hretin	hreta
Pl.	hretana	hretnaro	hretnam	hretana

jōn‑Stem

Weak masculine jô-stem noun sinþia, ‘traveller’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	sinþia	sinþins	sinþin	sinþin
Pl.	sinþins	sinþinaro	sinþim	sinþins

Weak feminine jǭ-stem noun sinþia, ‘traveller’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	sinþia	sinþins	sinþin	sinþin
Pl.	sinþins	sinþinaro	sinþim	sinþins

Weak neuter jô-stem noun lipia, ‘lip’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	lipia	lipins	lipin	lipia
Pl.	lipina	lipinaro	lipim	lipina

wōn‑Stem

Weak masculine wô-stem noun ankua, ‘butter’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	ankua	ankuns	ankun	ankun
Pl.	ankuns	ankunaro	ankum	ankuns

Weak feminine wǭ-stem noun þīfua, ‘thunder’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	þīfua	þīfuns	þīfun	þīfun
Pl.	þīfuns	þīfunaro	þīfum	þīfuns

Weak neuter wô-stem noun tegua, ‘toe’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	tegua	teguns	tegun	tegua
Pl.	teguna	tegunaro	tegum	teguna

īn‑Stem

The īn‑stems are exclusively feminine, and are comprised largely of nominalized adjectives.

Weak feminine į̄-stem noun ǣði, ‘mother’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	ǣði	ǣðins	ǣðin	ǣðin
Pl.	ǣðins	ǣðinaro	ǣðim	ǣðins

r/n‑Stems (“Heteroclitic Nouns”)

The r/n‑stems, also known as “heteroclitic nouns” or “heteroclites,” are a small group of weak neuter nouns in which the typical ‑n‑ of the ending is replaced by ‑r‑ in some declensions. This is an old, old relic likely from Pre‑Indo‑European. There is no evidence that heteroclites were present in Gothic. Fōr ‘fire’ and watra ‘water’ only occur in the singular.

Weak neuter r/n-stem noun ǧikur, ‘liver’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	ǧikur	ǧikuns	ǧikun	ǧikun
Pl.	ǧikuna	ǧikunaro	ǧikum	ǧikuna

Weak neuter r/n-stem noun fōr, ‘fire’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	fōr	funins	funin	fōn

Weak neuter r/n-stem noun watra, ‘water’
	Nominative	Genitive	Dative	Accusative
Sg.	watra	watins	watin	watna