Valthungian/Nouns

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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[1] *sleip‑am *sleip‑ans
Middle Valthungian sleip‑s sleip‑is sleip‑a sleip‑ sleip‑os sleip‑oru sleip‑ 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

Template:Valthungian/n.st.f.ju‑pal

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
  1. The genitive plural ending was replaced by the Latin ending ōrum sometime around the 6th or 7th century.