Nouns
Like pronouns, Old English nouns appear in paradigms: a complete set of forms showing how a word changes for case (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental) and number (singular, plural).
In Modern English, most nouns change only for plural (dog → dogs) or possessive (dog → dog’s). Old English, however, preserved a much more elaborate system of inflection.
What is Declension?
A declension is the complete set of case and number forms of a noun. Old English nouns inflect for:
- Number: singular and plural.
- Case: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), genitive (possessive), dative (indirect object/after prepositions), and in some paradigms instrumental (means or manner).
Modern English preserves only fragments of this system, such as the plural -s (stone → stones), the possessive -’s (stone → stone’s), and irregular forms (man → men, child → children). Old English, by contrast, retains full declensional paradigms.
Declension Classes
Not all Old English nouns follow the same pattern of endings. Instead, they are divided into declension classes, each reflecting earlier Proto-Germanic stem types.
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Weak nouns (n-stems): These nouns are marked by -n in many of their forms. They are called “n-stems” because their historical stem ended in -n. Example: nama “name” → naman (in all other forms). They are recognized as they are not inflected in a easily identifiable way.
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Strong nouns: All other nouns fall into this broad category. Strong nouns are divided into several subclasses, each with characteristic endings:
- o-stems (masculine and neuter): e.g., stān “stone,” scip “ship,” word “word.” Typical endings include -es (genitive singular) and -as (nominative plural masculine).
- ā-stems (feminine): e.g., ġiefu “gift,” lār “teaching.”
- Consonant-stems: a smaller, irregular group preserving older Germanic forms. e.g., mann “man,” bōc “book,” fæder “father,” mōdor “mother.”
- u-stems: a limited class, often kinship terms or natural objects. e.g., sunu “son,” hand “hand.”
Old English Noun Declensions
| Declension Type | Example (gender) | Nominative Sg. | Accusative Sg. | Genitive Sg. | Dative Sg. | Nominative Pl. | Accusative Pl. | Genitive Pl. | Dative Pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weak n-stems | nama (m. “name”) | nama | naman | naman | naman | naman | naman | namena | namum |
| sunne (f. “sun”) | sunne | sunnan | sunnan | sunnan | sunnan | sunnan | sunnena | sunnum | |
| ēage (n. “eye”) | ēage | ēage | ēagan | ēagan | ēagan | ēagan | ēagena | ēagum | |
| Strong o-stems | stān (m. “stone”) | stān | stān | stānes | stāne | stānas | stānas | stāna | stānum |
| scip (n. “ship”) | scip | scip | scipes | scipe | scipu | scipu | scipa | scipum | |
| word (n. “word”) | word | word | wordes | worde | word | word | worda | wordum | |
| Strong ā-stems | ġiefu (f. “gift”) | ġiefu | ġiefe | ġiefe | ġiefe | ġiefa | ġiefa | ġiefa | ġiefum |
| lār (f. “teaching”) | lār | lāre | lāre | lāre | lār | lār | lāra | lār̄um | |
| Consonant stems | mann (m. “man”) | mann | mann | mannes | menn | menn | menn | manna | mannum |
| bōc (f. “book”) | bōc | bōc | bēċ | bēċ | bēċ | bēċ | bōca | bōcum | |
| fæder (m. “father”) | fæder | fæder | fæder | fæder | fæderas | fæderas | fædera | fæderum | |
| mōdor (f. “mother”) | mōdor | mōdor | mōdor | mōdor | mōdru | mōdru | mōdra | mōdrum | |
| u-stems | sunu (m. “son”) | sunu | sunu | suna | suna | suna | suna | suna | sunum |
| hand (f. “hand”) | hand | handa | handa | handa | handa | handa | handa | handum |
The Noun Phrase in Old English
A noun phrase is a group of words built around a noun (the head), which may be accompanied by determiners, adjectives, and other modifiers. In Old English, the noun phrase functions much like it does in Modern English, but its form is governed by the system of case, number, and gender agreement which adds an extra layer of complexity.
Structure of the Noun Phrase
The head of the noun phrase is the noun itself. Other elements may appear before or after it:
- Demonstratives or determiners: e.g., sē cyning “the/that king,” þes cyning “this king.”
- Adjectives: e.g., sē gōda cyning “the good king.”
- Genitives (possessives): e.g., þæs cyninges sunu “the king’s son.”
- Prepositional phrases: e.g., sē cyning on þǣm lande “the king in the land.”
Agreement within the Noun Phrase
Every word in the noun phrase must agree with the head noun in case, number, and gender. This is a key feature of Old English grammar. For example:
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Singular nominative masculine:
sē gōda cyning = “the good king.”
(sē, gōda, and cyning all show masculine nominative singular endings.) -
Plural accusative masculine:
Ic geseo þā gōdan cyningas. = “I see the good kings.”
(þā, gōdan, and cyningas all show masculine accusative plural endings.)
Because the case endings signal grammatical function, word order is more flexible than in Modern English. For example, both sē gōda cyning geseah þone mann and þone mann geseah sē gōda cyning mean “the good king saw the man.” The noun phrase endings make the roles clear.