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‑Stem Variations

ba‑Stems

Stems which end in ‑ba 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 have ‑v‑ elsewhere. The ba‑stems have also come to include the fa‑stems, which are now indistinguishable. Valthungian/n.st.m.ba

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

Following the same pattern as the ba‑stems, da‑stems have ‑ð‑ in most declensions but ‑þ in the nominative and accusative singular. The da‑stems have also come to include the þa‑stems, which are now indistinguishable.

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 wroþ, ‘word’
  Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative
Sg. wroþ wroðis wroða wroþ
Pl. wroða wroðaro wroðma wroða
za‑Stems

The za‑stems also follow this voicing pattern, with ‑s in the nominative and accusative, and have ‑s‑ elsewhere. Unlike the ba‑ and da‑stems, however, the s‑stems remain distinct from the za-stems and have not been assimilated into them. The nominative masculine singular shows only ‑s rather than **‑ss.

Strong masculine a-stem noun mims, ‘meat’
  Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative
Sg. mims mimžis mimža mims
Pl. mimžas mimžaro mimžma mimžnas
Strong neuter a-stem noun gǣs, ‘spear’
  Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative
Sg. gǣs gǣžis gǣža gǣs
Pl. gǣža gǣžaro gǣžma gǣža
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 voicing alternation stems above, 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
nda‑Stems

Stems ending in ‑ndaz are regular with the exception of the masculine singular nominative, which has the same ‑ǧ ending found in the ga‑stems above. Neuter nda‑stem nouns are regular.

Strong masculine a-stem noun hunǧ, ‘dog’
  Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative
Sg. hunǧ hundis hunda hund
Pl. hundas hundaro hundma hundnas
sa‑Stems

Stems in ‑sa, as mentioned above, do not have voicing, so they don't merge with the za‑stems as may be expected. However, because the masculine nominative singular also has a final ‑s, one of them is dropped… but I’m not going to tell you which one.

Strong masculine a-stem noun hlas, ‘neck’
  Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative
Sg. hlas hlasis hlasa hlas
Pl. hlasas hlasaro hlasma hlasnas
ra‑Stems

The ra‑stems behave similarly – they are ostensibly regular but the final ‑s is dropped from the masculine nominative singular – but the reason for this dropping happens much earlier, in pre-Gothic East Germanic. Originally it only affected masculine nouns ending in ‑r after a short vowel, but in Middle Valthungian times, it came to include all masculine nouns ending in ‑r. Neuter r‑stem nouns are regular.

Strong masculine a-stem noun wer, ‘man’
  Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative
Sg. wer weris wera wer
Pl. weras weraro werma wernas
Cluster‑Stems

Similar to the r‑ and s‑stems, cluster stems are nouns ending in the clusters ‑st, ‑sp, ‑sk, ‑šk, or ‑ft. They are regular but for the lack of final ‑s in the nominative masculine singular. Neuter cluster‑stem nouns are regular.

Strong masculine a-stem noun fišk, ‘fish’
  Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative
Sg. fišk fiškis fiška fišk
Pl. fiškas fiškaro fiškma fišknas
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
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

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

þ-Stems (neuter)

There is a small group of neuter nouns which historically were known as consonant-stems. The masculine and feminine consonant-stems (words such as mēnaþs ‘month’ and bruǧ ‘city’) were assimilated into the i-stems, but the neuters were weird right from the start. In the late Proto-Germanic period there was a sound change known as Coronal Consonant Deletion in which the coronal consonants (/t, d, and θ/) were deleted word-finally. Most were then either restore or lost completely through analogical levelling; this is why English has what – with a t – while Gothic has 𐍈𐌰 (ƕa). Valthungian maintains the distinction, so these words retain their coronal consonant (at this point, always ð) in all declensions except for the nominative and accusative singular.

  • alo ~ aluðis
  • ile ~ iliðis
  • mile ~ miliðis

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