CHAPTER XII.

#Remnants of Other Consonant Declensions.#

67. The nouns belonging here are chiefly masculines and feminines. Their stem ended in a consonant other than n. The most important of them may be divided as follows: (1) The _foot_ Declension, (2) r-Stems, and (3) nd-Stems. These declensions are all characterized by the prevalence, wherever possible, of i-umlaut in certain cases, the case ending being then dropped.

68. (1) The nouns belonging to the _foot_ Declension exhibit umlaut most consistently in the N.A. plural.

_Sing. N.A._ sē fōt sē mǫn sē tōð sēo cū _Sing. N.A._ (_foot_) (_man_) (_tooth_) (_cow_) _Plur. N.A._ fēt męn tēð cȳ

NOTE.--The dative singular usually has the same form as the N.A. plural. Here belong also #sēo bōc# (_book_), #sēo burg# (_borough_), #sēo gōs# (_goose_), #sēo lūs# (_louse_), and #sēo mūs# (_mouse_), all with umlauted plurals. Mn.E. preserves only six of the _foot_ Declension plurals: _feet_, _men_, _teeth_, _geese_, _lice_, and _mice_. The _c_ in the last two is an artificial spelling, intended to preserve the sound of voiceless _s_. Mn.E. _kine_ (= _cy-en_) is a double plural formed after the analogy of weak stems; Burns in _The Twa Dogs_ uses _kye_.

No umlaut is possible in #sēo niht# (_night_) and #sē mōnað# (_month_), plural #niht# and #mōnað# (preserved in Mn.E. _twelvemonth_ and _fortnight_).

(2) The r-Stems contain nouns expressing kinship, and exhibit umlaut of the dative singular.

_Sing. N.A._ sē fæder sē brōðor sēo mōdor (_father_) (_brother_) (_mother_) _D._ fæder brēðer mēder

_Sing. N.A._ sēo dohtor (_daughter_) sēo swuster (_sister_) _D._ dęhter swyster

NOTE.--The N.A. plural is usually the same as the N.A. singular. These umlaut datives are all due to the presence of a former i. Cf. Lat. dative singular _patri_, _frātri_, _mātri_, _sorori_ (< _*sosori_), and Greek θυγατρί.

(3) The nd-Stems show umlaut both in the N.A. plural and in the dative singular:

_Sing. N.A._ sē frēond (_friend_) sē fēond (_enemy_) _D._ frīend fīend

_Plur. N.A._ frīend fīend

NOTE.--Mn.E. _friend_ and _fiend_ are interesting analogical spellings. When s had been added by analogy to the O.E. plurals #frīend# and #fīend#, thus giving the double plurals _friends_ and _fiends_, a second singular was formed by dropping the s. Thus _friend_ and _fiend_ displaced the old singulars _frend_ and _fend_, both of which occur in the M.E. _Ormulum_, written about the year 1200.

#Summary of O.E. Declensions.#

69. A brief, working summary of the O.E. system of declensions may now be made on the basis of gender.

All O.E. nouns are (1) masculine, (2) feminine, or (3) neuter.

(1) The masculines follow the declension of #mūð# (§ 26), except those ending in -a, which are declined like #hunta# (§ 64):

_Sing. N.A._ mūð _N._ hunta _G._ mūðes _G.D.A._ huntan _D.I._ mūðe _I._ huntan

_Plur. N.A._ mūðas huntan _G._ mūða huntena _D.I._ mūðum huntum

(2) The short-stemmed neuters follow the declension of #hof# (§ 32); the long-stemmed, that of #bearn# (§ 32):

_Sing. N.A._ hof bearn _G._ hofes bearnes _D.I._ hofe bearne

_Plur. N.A._ hofu bearn _G._ hofa bearna _D.I._ hofum bearnum

(3) The feminines follow the declensions of #giefu# and #wund# (§ 38) (the only difference being in the N. singular), except those ending in -e, which follow the declension of #tunge# (§ 64):

_Sing. N._ giefu wund tunge _G._ giefe wunde tungan _D.I._ giefe wunde tungan _A._ giefe wunde tungan

_Plur. N.A._ giefa wunda tungan _G._ giefa wunda tungena _D.I._ giefum wundum tungum

70. VOCABULARY.

ac, _but_. būtan (with dat.), _except, but, without_. sē Crīst, _Christ_. sē eorl, _earl, alderman, warrior_. ðæt Ęnglalǫnd, _England_ [Angles’ land]. faran, _to go_ [fare]. findan, _to find_. sē God, _God_. hātan, _to call, name_. sē hlāford, _lord_ [#hlāf-weard#]. mid (with dat.), _with_. on (with acc.), _on, against, into_. tō (with dat.), _to_. uton (with infin.), _let us_.

NOTE.--O.E. #mǫn# (#man#) is frequently used in an indefinite sense for _one_, _people_, _they_. It thus takes the place of a passive construction proper: #And man nam þā gebrotu þe þār belifon, twęlf cȳpan fulle#, _And there were taken up of fragments that remained there twelve baskets full_; but more literally, _And one_ (or _they_) _took the fragments_, etc.; #Ǫnd Hæstenes wīf ǫnd hīs suna twēgen mǫn brōhte tō ðǣm cyninge#, _And Hæsten’s wife and his two sons were brought to the king_.

71. EXERCISES.

I. 1. Mōn hine hǣt Ælfred. 2. Uton faran on ðæt scip. 3. God is cyninga cyning ǫnd hlāforda hlāford. 4. Sē eorl ne giefð giefa his fīend. 5. Ic næs mid his frīend. 6. Sēo mōdor færð mid hiere dęhter on ðā burg. 7. Fintst ðū ðæs bōceres bēc? 8. Hē bint ealle (all) ðā dēor būtan ðǣm wulfum. 9. Ðū eart Crīst, Godes sunu. 10. “Uton bindan ðæs bǫnan fēt,” cwið hē.

II. 1. Christ is the son of God. 2. Let us call him Cædmon. 3. He throws his spear against the door. 4. Thou art not the earl’s brother. 5. He will go with his father to England, but I shall remain (abide) here. 6. Gifts are not given to murderers. 7. Who will find the tracks of the animals? 8. They ask their lord for his weapons (§ 65, Note 3).