OLD ENGLISH GRAMMAR THE NOUN THE PRONOUN THE

OLD ENGLISH GRAMMAR: THE NOUN, THE PRONOUN, THE ADJECTIVE

THE NOUN • Gender: Masculine, Feminine and Neuter. • Number: Singular and Plural: fisc – fiscas; tōð – tēð • Case: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative. (Genitive) OE thæs cyninges brōðor - “that king’s brother”.

NOUN DECLENSIONS (STEMS) • Strong (vowel) declension: a-stem, ō-stem, ustem and i-stem. • Weak (consonant) declension: n-stem, r-stem, sstem. • Root-stems: the root was equal to the stem.

STRONG (VOWEL) DECLENSION A-stems Masculine Sin gular Plural Ō - stems Neuter Feminine Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative fisc (fish) fisces fisce fisc scip (ship) scipes scipe scip talu (tale) tale Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative fiscas fisca fiscum fiscas scipu scipa scipum scipu tala, -ena talum tala, -e

WEAK (CONSONANT) DECLENSION Case Singular Plural Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative masculine feminine neuter nama (name) naman tunge (tongue) tungan eage (eye) eagan eage naman namena namum naman tungena tungum tungan eagena eagum eagan

ROOT-STEM DECLENSION case singul ar Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative plural Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative masculine man (man) mannes man men manna mannum men feminine mūs (mouse) mūse mýs mūs mūs mýs

THE PRONOUN • • • personal, demonstrative, interrogative, possessive, indefinite, relative.

PERSONAL PRONOUN • 1 st pers. : Ic, wē; • 2 nd pers. : ðu, gē; • 3 rd pers. : hē, hēo, hit; hī /hīe.

CATEGORY OF NUMBER person singular dual plural 1 st ic wīt wē 2 nd ðu gīt gē 3 rd (Masc. ) Hē - (Fem. ) Hēo - (Neut. ) Hit - hī / hīe

DECLENSION OF THE PERSONAL PRONOUN IC case Nominat ive Genitive Dative Accusati ve singular ic mīn mē mec, mē dual wit uncer unc plural wē ūser, ūre ūs ūsic, ūs

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN • • Masculine: sē, Feminine: sēo, Neuter: thæt Plural: thæt

DECLENSION OF THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS case Nomin. Genitive Dative Accusat. Instrum. Mascul. Singular (that) sē Þæs Þæm Þone Þý, þon Femin. Singular (that) Neuter Singular (that) sēo Þære Þa Þæt Þæs Þæm Þæt Plural (those) Þæt Þara Þæm Þā þý

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS • A separate class of pronouns: OE his mōdor - Mod. E his mother; OE sunu mīn “my son” – Mod. E son mine (literally)

THE ADJECTIVE • • Case, Number, Gender, Two types of declensions: weak and strong.

DECLENSION OF ADJECTIVES number case strong weak singular Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Instrumental gōd (good) gōdes gōdum gōdne gōdan gōdan plural Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Instrumental gōde gōdra gōdum gōde gōdum gōdan gōdra gōdum gōdan gōdum

DEGREES OF COMPARISON • The Comparative degree: the suffix –ra, • The Superlative degree: the suffix -est/ost • Vowel alternations due to palatal mutation • Suppletive forms

SOFT, BLÆC, EALD, GŌD, MICEL Form-building means Positive Comparative Superlativ e Mod. E Suffix softra softost soft Suffixes plus vowel alternation s Suppletive forms blæc eald blæcra ieldra blacost ieldest black old gōd micel betera māra betst mæst good big, much