Old English nouns had complex declension patterns based on gender and stem type. Strong declensions included masculine and neuter a-stems, feminine ō-stems, and i-stems. Weak declensions were n-stems for all genders. Minor declensions like r-stems and root nouns also existed.
Cases in Old English had specific functions. Nominative marked subjects, accusative direct objects, genitive possession, and dative indirect objects. Nouns declined across cases in both singular and plural forms. Gender typically determined declension patterns, with some exceptions.
Old English Noun Declensions
Noun declensions in Old English
- Strong declensions
- Masculine a-stem (cyning, king)
- Neuter a-stem (scip, ship)
- Masculine i-stem (wine, friend)
- Feminine ō-stem (giefu, gift)
- Feminine i-stem (cwēn, queen)
- Feminine u-stem (duru, door)
- Weak declensions
- Masculine n-stem (guma, man)
- Feminine n-stem (tunge, tongue)
- Neuter n-stem (ēage, eye)
- Minor declensions
- r-stem (fæder, father)
- nd-stem (frēond, friend)
- Root nouns (bōc, book)
Functions of Old English cases
- Nominative
- Indicates the subject of a sentence (se cyning, the king)
- Used for predicate nominatives (he is cyning, he is a king)
- Accusative
- Marks the direct object of a verb (ic lufige þone cyning, I love the king)
- Used for objects of some prepositions (ymbe þone cyning, about the king)
- Genitive
- Expresses possession or relationship (þæs cyninges burh, the king's city)
- Indicates the object of certain verbs and prepositions (þæs cyninges geþencan, to remember the king)
- Dative
- Marks the indirect object of a verb (ic sende þæm cyninge giefe, I send a gift to the king)
- Used for objects of some prepositions (mid þæm cyninge, with the king)
- Indicates the instrument or means by which an action is performed (mid sweorde, with a sword)
Declining nouns across cases
- Singular
- Nominative (cyning, king)
- Accusative (cyning, king)
- Genitive (cyninges, king's)
- Dative (cyninge, to/for/with king)
- Plural
- Nominative (cyningas, kings)
- Accusative (cyningas, kings)
- Genitive (cyninga, of kings)
- Dative (cyningum, to/for/with kings)
Grammatical Gender and Noun Declension
Gender vs declension relationships
- Masculine nouns
- Typically belong to the a-stem (dæg, day), i-stem (wine, friend), or n-stem (guma, man) declensions
- Feminine nouns
- Usually belong to the ō-stem (giefu, gift), i-stem (cwēn, queen), u-stem (duru, door), or n-stem (tunge, tongue) declensions
- Neuter nouns
- Typically belong to the a-stem (scip, ship) or n-stem (ēage, eye) declensions
- Grammatical gender determines the declension pattern
- Nouns of the same gender often follow similar declension patterns (masculine a-stem nouns decline similarly)
- Exceptions exist
- Some nouns may have a different gender than their declension pattern suggests (mægden, maiden is neuter but follows the feminine ō-stem declension)