The Strong Declension

The characteristic features of the strong adjective declension are:

a)Instr. sg. is different from Dat. sg. for masculine and neuter genders.

b)Several endings are taken from the declension of pronouns (the pronominal endings).

c)The rest are nominal endings. Most adjectives are declined as a-stems for the masculine and neuter genders and as ō-stems for the feminine.

d)In the strong declension two groups are distinguished:

- short-stemmed adjectives: cwic (alive), glæd, blase, smæl, etc.

- long-stemmed adjectives: gōd, brād, dēop, wīs, blind, eald, wearm, englisc, etc.

e)The declension of the above-given groups is identical except in two forms. In the Fern. Nom. sg. and the Neut. Nom./Acc, pl. the short-stemmed adjectives have the ending -u. The long-stemmed adjectives have no ending (zero ending) in the same position, so we have gladu but blind.

f)Adjectives with æ in the root syllable change it to a before all endings beginning with a vowel: glæd - gladu. The paradigm of the strong declension of the short-stemmed adjectives:

Plural

The paradigm of the strong declension of the long-stemmed adjectives:

Plural

Note: Dissyllabic adjectives often drop their second syllable vowel before a case ending beginning with a vowel: hālig (holy) - (G) hālges - (D) hālgum - (Acc.) hāligne, etc.

The Weak Declension

The weak declension of adjectives has the same endings as the weak declension of nouns, except that the adjectives generally have the strong ending -rа instead of - (e)na in the Gen. pl.

Date: 2014-12-22; view: 1277