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Old High German is aninflectedlanguage, and as such its nouns, pronouns, and adjectives must be declined in order to serve a grammatical function. A set of declined forms of the same word pattern is called adeclension. There are fivegrammatical cases in Old High German.

A complete declension consists of fivegrammatical cases.

• Thenominative case, which is used to express the subject of a statement. It is also used withcopulative verbs.
• Theaccusative case, which expresses the direct object of a verb. In English, except for some pronouns which display a distinct accusative case (e.g., who > whom, I > me, he > him), the accusative and nominative cases are identical.
• Thegenitive case, which expresses possession, measurement, or source. In English, the genitive case is represented analytically by the prepositionof or by theenclitic "–'s", which itself developed from the genitive case. This –'s is related to the common Gothic "-s".
• Thedative case, which expresses the recipient of an action, the indirect object of a verb. In English, the prepositionsto,from andfor most commonly denote this case analytically.
• Theinstrumental case, which is used to express the object with which its activity is performed. It roughly corresponds to the prepositionswith andby. This case only survives in masculine and neuter singular vowel-stem strong declensions in Old High German.

English grammars of Old High German often present the cases in the order NOM-ACC-GEN-DAT-INST.

Note: Declensions are named according to their form inProto-Germanic. Often intervening sound changes render the once transparent stem endings opaque, and the name may no longer make much sensesynchronically. And evendiachronically; thei-,ja-, andjō-stems lose their overti’s in all inherited forms except the masculine and neuter nominative-accusative case during the ninth century.

This declension has as counterparts the second declension (us/um) of Latin and the omicron declension (os/on) of Greek. It contains masculine and neuter nouns.

Examples of masculine nouns declined liketag "day":bërg "mountain",wëg "way",geist "spirit",himil "heaven",tiufal "devil",kuning "king".Notes:

• Disyllabic nouns ending in-al,-ar and-an, with long stems, sometimes drop the-a- before an ending beginning with a vowel, e.g. masculine singularackar "acre, field", genitive singularackres. Note that in these cases, the-a- is an epenthetic vowel that was not originally present (compareGothicakrs <Proto-Germanic*akraz), and so the "deletion" of this vowel is really the preservation of the original form.
• Proper names in the-a declension take a pronominal accusative ending-an, e.g. nominativePetrus, accusativePetrusan; similarlytruhtīn "God, Lord", accusativetruhtīnan.

Examples of neuter nouns declined likewort:barn "child",sēr "pain",swërt "sword",honag "honey".Notes:

• The situation with long-stemmed disyllabic nouns ending in-al,-ar and-an is the same as for the corresponding masculines, e.g. nominativezwīfal "doubt", genitivezwīfles.
• Diminutives in-īn and-līn, e.g.magatīn "little maid" (neuter!),fingarlīn "little finger", are declined the same except in theUpper German dialects. In those dialects, final-n is dropped in the nominative and accusative, and furthermore inAllemannic the nominative and accusative plural end in-iu.
• The neuter plural should have had the ending -u in short-stem neuters, but has lost it due to analogy with long-stem neuters, which exhibit syncope as in Old Saxon and Old English.^[1]

This declension was originally just the-a declension with an immediately precedingj. However, due to various sound laws, a new declension subcategory has arisen that does not exactly follow the form of the plain-a declension. Similar developments occurred in Greek and the Slavic languages, among others.

This declension has as counterparts the second declension nouns in (-ius/-ium) of Latin. The counterparts in Greek are some second declension nouns in (-ios/-ion), as well as many that show effects of palatalization (e.g., -zdos < *-gyos or *-dyos; -llos < *-lyos; -ptos < -*pyos; -ssos or -ttos < -*tyos; -airos/-eiros/-oiros < *-aryos/-eryos/-oryos; -ainos/-einos/-oinos < *-anyos/enyos/onyos; etc., and similarly for neuter nouns in -ion or *-yon). It contains masculine and neuter nouns.

Note that the transition from early to late forms occurred during the ninth century. Late-formja-stems are declined identically toa-stems except for the added-i in the neuter nominative and accusative, in the masculine nominative and accusative singular, and in the dative plural. Compare the equivalent nouns inOld English, e.g.rīce "kingdom" (neuter).

Sample nouns likehirti: agent nouns in-āri (-ari, -eri), e.g.wahtāri (-ari, -eri) "watchman",lērāri "teacher",scrībāri "writer, scribe"; also,karkāri "prison",altāri "altar",rucki "back",phuzzi, puzzi "well",kāsi "cheese".

Sample nouns likekunni:enti "end",rīhhi "kingdom",betti "bed",gizungi "language",finstarnessi "darkness",heri "army" (genitive singularheries, dative singularherie, herige).

Notes:

• -o in the nominative can be dropped following a long vowel.
• When a consonant precedes the-w, anepenthetic vowel-a- (sometimes-o- or-e-) appears in the oblique cases, e.g. neutertrëso "treasure", genitivetrësawes.

Among the other nouns in this declension:

• Masculinelēo "grave",sēo "sea",scato (genitivescatawes) "shadow",bū (genitivebūwes) "dwelling".
• Neuterrēo "corpse",zëso (genitivezësawes) "right side",smëro (genitivesmërawes) "grease".

This declension counterparts the first declension (a) of Latin, and the alpha declension (a/as) of Greek. It contains feminine nouns. The nominative, which should have had the ending -u, has been merged with the accusative in -a.^[2]

Sample nouns of this declension:gëba "gift",ërda "earth",ēra "honor",zala "number",triuwa "fidelity",corunga "temptation",hertida "hardness",miltida "compassion",gi-nāda "favor",lōsunga "deliverance",stunta "time".

Sample nouns likesunta:hella "hell",sibba, sippa "peace",minna "love",krippa "manger".

Sample nouns likekuningin:forasagin "prophetess",friuntin "friend",burdin "burden".

Only early-formjō-stems likesunta are declined in any obviously different way than the otherō-stems. Theinjō-stems only lack the nominative and accusative singular in -a which the ō-declension should have, which is comparatively subtle.

This declension counterparts the vowel stems of the third declension (is) of Latin, and the third declension of Greek. It contains masculine and feminine nouns. Note that masculine nouns have become identical to -a stem nouns in the singular, while feminine nouns have preserved the original declension.

This declension was much more reduced compared to other old Germanic languages such asOld English. Most nouns were transferred outright to thei- or sometimes thea-declension, and the remaining nouns were heavily influenced by thei-declension—only the nominative and accusative singular are different, ending in-u.

Notes:

• Five masculine nouns follow this declension:situ "custom",fridu "peace",hugu "understanding",sigu "victory", andsunu "son" (alsosun).
• Only a single neuter noun,fihu "cattle", follows the declension, and exists only in the singular.
• The only trace of a feminineu-declension is in the wordhant "hand", declined as a femininei-stem except in the dative plural, where the oldu-declension formshantum, -un, -on persist.

This class consists of feminine abstract nouns and came about through the falling together of two declensions that were still different inGothic: compare the Gothic-ei stems (a subclass of the weak declension, formed from adjectives, e.g.diupei "depth", genitivediupeins, fromdiups "deep") and-eins stems (a subclass of thei-declension, formed from Class I weak verbs, e.g.dáupeins "a dipping", genitivedáupeináis, fromdáupjan "to dip").

Examples of other members of this class:scōnī "beauty",suoẓẓī "sweetness",snëllī "quickness",tiufī "depth",menigī, managī "multitude",irstantanī "resurrection",toufī "a dipping",welī "choice",leitī "a leading",riudī "mange".

This class was already falling apart in the earliest texts:

• Only a very small number of nouns remain in this declension. The vast majority have passed over to thei-declension.
• eoman, ioman "someone" andneoman, nioman "no one" have a pronominal ending-an in the accusative singular, e.g.eomannan, neomannan.
• Masculinefuoẓ "foot" has passed over to thei-declension but retains the consonant endings–um (–un, –on) in the dative plural.
• The only trace of neuters of this class is the optional dative singularhūs "to a house" beside regularhūse.
• buoch "book" is declined mostly as a neutera-stem in the singular but a feminine consonant stem in the plural.
• burg "borough, city" andbrust "breast" are sometimes declined as feminine consonant stems but sometimes as femininei-stems.

• fater "father" has moved to thea-declension later on, and even in early documents the nominative and accusative plural has borrowed-ā (-a) from thea-stems.
• muoter "mother" preserves the original declension, unmixed witha-stem forms. The other members of this class follow the same declension:bruoder "brother",tohter "daughter", andswëster "sister".

This declension has almost entirely merged with thea-declension. Only in early texts do the nominative and accusative plural have a separate, endingless form.

A large number of nouns belong to this declension, such asfīant "enemy",wīgant "warrior", and many others in-ant.

This class consists of neuter nouns and corresponds toGreek neuters in-os andLatin neuters in-us (genitive-eris,-oris). Formally, these nouns look like regular neuters except that a suffix-ir (fromProto-Germanic-iz-, fromProto-Indo-European-es-) is added to the stem in the plural and triggers umlaut. This class was massively expanded in Middle and Modern High German.

A small number of nouns were declined according to this declension, among themlamb "lamb",kalb "calf",blat "leaf", andgrab "grave".

Adjectives in Old High German, as in the other Germanic languages, can be declined according to two different paradigms, commonly called "strong" and "weak". This represents a significant innovation in Germanic, although a similar development has taken place in theBaltic andSlavic languages.

Adjectives inProto-Indo-European—as is still the case inLatin,Greek, and most other daughters—are declined in exactly the same way as nouns. Germanic "strong" adjectives, however, take many of their endings from the declension of pronouns, while "weak" adjectives take the endings of-n stem nouns, regardless of the underlying stem class of the adjective.

In general, weak adjectival endings are used when the adjective is accompanied by a definite article, and strong endings are used in other situations. However, weak endings are occasionally used in the absence of a definite article, and cause the associated noun to have the same semantics as if a definite article were present. In addition, some adjectives are always declined weak or strong, regardless of any accompanying articles.

Strong adjectives are inflected according to a single paradigm, thea/ō-declension. Additional subclasses, theja/jō- andwa/wō-declensions, differ only in the uninflected forms. Unlike inGothic, noi-stem oru-stem adjectives exist any more.

Note that an uninflected form optionally occurs in the nominative singular and plural of all genders, and in the accusative singular of the neuter. In the singular cases, either form can be used when the adjective is used attributively (blint man orblintēr man "blind man") or predicatively (dër man ist blintēr ordër man ist blint "the man is blind"). In the plural, the uninflected form can be used as an alternative to the inflected form only when used predicatively (die man sint blinte ordie man sint blint "the men are blind"), but not attributively (onlyblinte man "blind men" can occur).

The existence of two forms of the adjective, one inflected and one uninflected, is for the most part an innovation ofOld High German that is not present in the other Germanic languages. InProto-Germanic, as still inGothic andOld Saxon, only the neuter singular nominative and accusative had a dual form. In the other old Germanic languages, one or the other neuter form was generalized. The–ēr and–iu endings are also innovations specific to Old High German, based on the third-person personal pronouns. The inherited masculine ending would be– (compareOld English masculine nominative singularblind), and the ending corresponding to–iu would likely either be– or–a.

Adjectives of theja/jō-declension differ from normala/ō-declension adjectives only in the uninflected form, which ends with an-i. For example,scōni "beautiful" has masculine nominative singularscōnēr. Other examples of such adjectives arefesti "fast",māri "famous",tiuri "dear",biderbi "useful", as well as present participles, such asbëranti "bearing".

Similarly toja/jō-stem adjectives, adjectives of thewa/wō-declension differ from normala/ō-declension adjectives only in the uninflected form, which ends with an-o, like the corresponding nouns. Unlike theja/jō-stems, however, the-w- in the stem does appear in the inflected forms. Also like the corresponding nouns, if the stem ends in a consonant preceding the final-w, an epenthetic-a- usually develops in the inflected forms between the consonant and the-w. For example,garo "ready" has inflected nominative singulargarawēr or sometimesgarwēr, whilefao, fō "little" has inflected nominative singularfawēr. Other examples of such adjectives aregëlo "yellow",zëso "right(-handed)",slēo, slē "dull",frao, frō "joyful",rao, rō "raw".

The weak declension for adjectives is identical to the corresponding weak declensions for masculine, neuter and feminine nouns.

ja/jō-stem andwa/wō-stem adjectives have identical endings, along with the same stem forms as in the strong inflected forms. For example,scōni "beautiful" has weak masculine nominative singularscōno, whilegaro "ready" has weak masculine nominative singulargar(a)wo.

ein "one" is normally declined a strong adjective, but is declined as a weak adjective when meaning "alone".

zwei "two" anddrī "three" decline as follows:

Cardinal numeralsfeor, fior "four" throughzwelif "twelve" are indeclinable adjectives when standing before a noun, but after a noun or when used as a noun decline as follows (approximately, asi-stems):

Cardinal numeralszweinzug "20" throughzëhanzug "100" are indeclinable nouns, with an associated noun in the genitive plural.hunt "100" presumably behaves likezëhanzug.dūsunt, thūsunt "1000" is mostly treated as a feminine noun, but sometimes as a neuter noun.

The ordinalander "second" (inflected asanderēr, anderaẓ, anderiu) follows the strong adjectival declension, while the remaining ordinals follow the weak declension.

Other numeral forms:

• Distributive numerals, e.g.einluzze "one by one",zwiske "two by two".
• Multiplicatives, e.g.einfalt "single",zwifalt "double, twofold", etc., declined as adjectives.
• Numeral adverbs, e.g.eines "once",zwiro, zwiror, zwiron "twice",driror "thrice",feorstunt, fiorstunt "four times",fimfstunt, finfstunt "five times",sëhsstunt "six times", etc. Sometimeseinstunt, zweistunt, drīstunt also occur.

First and second person possessive pronouns are based on the genitive case of the corresponding personal pronouns, and are declined strong: first personmīnēr,unserēr (orunsarēr), second persondīnēr,iuwerēr (oriuwarēr). The third person possessive pronoun is undeclined for case:

In Franconian, shortened forms ofunsēr andiuwēr exist, e.g.:

In the Franconian dialects:

• Mostly unshifted formsthër, thaẓ, thiu occur.
• InTatian, an alternative nominative singular formthie (thē) also occurs.
• An alternative nominative and accusative feminine pluralthie (rarelythia) also occurs.

Notes:

• The initialh dropped out in the beginning of the ninth century.
• In the meaning ofwhich, the associated noun is put in the genitive plural, e.g.wër manno "which man".

Additional interrogatives:

• (h)wëdar "which of two"
• (h)wëlīh "which"
• hweolīh "of what sort"
• solīh "such"

All were declined as strong adjectives.

Old High German had a number of indefinite pronominal forms.

The following were declined as strong adjectives:

• sum, sumilīh, sumalīh "a certain one, someone"
• ein "one"
• einīg, eining "any, anyone" (innegative polarity sentences)
• thëhein, dëhein "anyone, any" ("no one, no, none" innegative polarity sentences)
• nih(h)ein, noh(h)ein "no, none"
• gilīh "like" ("each" with an associated noun in the genitive plural)
• manno gilīh "each man"
• (gi)wëlīh, eogiwëlīh, iogiwëlīh "each"

The following were declined according to the interrogative-pronoun declension:

• wër, sō wër sō' "whoever";ëtewër "any one"; see the section on interrogative pronouns for the declension

The following were declined as nouns:

• man "one", declined as a masculine consonant stem
• eoman, ioman "somebody", declined as a masculine consonant stem but with a pronominal accusative singulareomannan, iomannan
• neoman, nioman "nobody", declined as a masculine consonant stem but with a pronominal accusative singularneomannan, niomannan
• wiht, eowiht, iowiht "anything", declined as a neutera-stem
• neowiht, niowiht "nothing", declined as a neutera-stem

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(June 2010)

• Wright, Joseph (1906).An Old High German Primer (Second ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

• Old High German
• Gothic language
• Grammar of the Gothic Language
• Proto-Indo-European noun:
  • Ancient Greek grammar
  • Latin declension
  • Sanskrit nouns

• Old High German
• German declension

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