OIcel declension

OIcel a-stems

OIcel inherits PGmc a-stems (masc. and neut.) with the following paradigm

case	masc.sg.	masc.pl.	neut.sg.	neut.pl
nom	arm-r	arm-ar	barn-∅	bǫrn-°
gen	arm-s	arm-a	barn-s	barn-a
dat	arm-i	ǫrm-um	barn-i	bǫrn-um
acc	arm-∅	arm-a	barn-∅	bǫrn-°

Forms undergo syncope when they would otherwise gain an extra syllable. Note morphological umlaut in the neut.pl nom and acc.

Subclasses

Masculine

Stems that originally ended in -ija- have a -i- before ∅ or consonant endings.

case	masc.sg.	masc.pl.
nom	hirð-i-r	hirð-ar
gen	hirð-i-s	hirð-a
dat	hirð-i	hirð-um
acc	hirð-i-∅	hirð-a

A very small class of stems originally ending in -ja- exhibit OIcel j-insertion

case	masc.sg	masc.pl
nom	nið-r	nið-j-ar
gen	nið-s	nið-j-a
dat	nið-∅	nið-j-um
acc	nið-∅	nið-j-a

Another small class of stems originally -wa- undergo OIcel v-insertion.

case	masc.sg.	masc.pl.
nom	sǫng-r	sǫng-v-ar
gen	sǫng-s	sǫng-v-a
dat	sǫng-v-i	sǫng-um
acc	sǫng-∅	sǫng-v-a

Some nouns take -ar in gen.sg.

Neuter

Stems originally ending in -ija-¹ developed the following declension, completely analogous to the masculine case.

case	neut.sg.	neut.pl.
nom	kvæð-i-∅	kvæð-i-∅
gen	kvæð-i-s	kvæð-a
dat	kvæð-i	kvæð-um
acc	kvæð-i-∅	kvæð-i-∅

A group of stems, most originally ending in -ja-, undergo OIcel j-insertion.

case	neut.sg.	neut.pl.
nom	egg-∅	egg-∅
gen	egg-s	egg-j-a
dat	egg-i	egg-j-um
acc	egg-∅	egg-∅

Stems originally ending in -wa- undergo OIcel v-insertion.

case	neut.sg.	neut.pl.
nom	hǫgg-∅	hǫgg-∅
gen	hǫgg-s	hǫgg-v-a
dat	hǫgg-v-i	hǫgg-um
acc	hǫgg-∅	hǫgg-∅

---

tidy | en | sembr

Footnotes

1. Unless preceded by a velar consonant, in which they declined according to the -ja- paradigm. ↩