Old Norse morphology

Old Norse had three grammatical genders – masculine, feminine or neuter. Nouns, adjectives and pronouns were declined in four grammatical cases – nominative, accusative, genitive and dative, in singular and plural. Some pronouns (first and second person) could have dual number in addition to singular and plural. The genitive is used partitively, and quite often in compounds and kennings (e.g.: Urðarbrunnr, the well of Urðr; Lokasenna, the gibing of Loki).

All neuter words have identical nominative and accusative forms, and all feminine words have identical nominative and accusative plurals.

The gender of some words' plurals does not agree with that of their singulars, such as lim and mund.

Nouns

Old Norse and other Germanic languages had two types of regular declension. They are called the strong and weak declensions by analogy with the strong and weak conjugations. One main feature of weak nouns is that they do not distinguish the non-nominative singular cases from each other. This effectively forms a nominative-oblique case dynamic confined to the weak singulars. Historically, the Proto-Germanic weak nouns were characterized by a nasal suffix applied as a case marker. These were mostly absorbed by their preceding vowels by the time Old Norse developed, with the main exceptions being those suffices in the weak feminine and neuter declensions' genitive plurals.^:1

Weak nouns

As the nominative of neuter words is also the accusative, and as weak nouns have the same dative and genitive as accusative in the singulars, all of the singular forms are the same for the weak neuters. One subset of the neuter declension contains 6 nouns for parts of the body. Another contains words for objects, forming no genitive plural.^:4

A. NEUTERS IN -A
	auga (eye)		síma (rope)
Case	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nom. & Acc.	aug-a	aug-u	sím-a	sím-u
Genitive		aug-na
Dative		aug-um		sím-um

The plurals of the weak masculine declension are the same as those of the 1st strong masculine. The declension contains the endings -ingi, -yrki, and -virki, as well as some weak versions of strong masculine nouns, names, and endings.^:1

B. MASCULINES IN -I
	bogi (bow)		bandingi (prisoner)
Case	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	bog-i	bog-ar	band-ing-i	band-ing-jar
Accusative	bog-a	bog-a	band-ing-ja	band-ing-ja
Genitive		bog-a		band-ing-ja
Dative		bog-um		bǫnd-ing-jum

The weak feminines with the -a ending vary greatly in the genitive plural, but most fall into a few groups: Nouns with -na as ending; nouns with no genitive plural; nouns that form the genitive plural by attaching the definite article's genitive plural to the nominative singular; nouns whose genitive singular is used collectively.^:2

C. FEMININES IN -A
	varta (wart)		saga (story)		gyðja (goddess)
Case	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vart-a	vǫrt-ur	sag-a	sǫg-ur	gyði-a	gyði-ur
Accusative	vǫrt-u		sǫg-u		gyði-u
Genitive		vart-na				gyði-a-nna
Dative		vǫrt-um		sǫg-um		gyði-um

The Indeclinable Feminines are an additional class of weak noun. They are conceptual in meaning, and because of this have no plurals and do not differentiate case.^:3 They may, in charts, be included with the feminines in -a, in which case said chart becomes:

D. INDECLINABLE FEMININES
	ævi (life)
Case	Singular
N., A., D., & G.	æu-i

Verb

Further information: Germanic verb

Verbs were conjugated in person and number, in present and past tense, in indicative, imperative and subjunctive mood.

The active participle is used to form a gerund or a verbal noun^:2 with weak masculine singulars and 3rd strong masculine plurals, or weak neuter declension. As a plain participle, it is a weak adjective. The participle appears in two genders within the same verse in Hávamál: "gínanda úlfi / galandi kráku." The general sense of the noun is of the English suffix -er or of being able to perform the action.^:3 The plural as a prefix, ęndr-, is equivalent to the English and Latin prefix re-.

Strong verbs

STRONG VERBS, i.e. Verbs in which the Preterite and Participle Passive are formed by changing the Root Vowel.
				1st Class	2nd Class	3rd Class	4th Class	5th and 6th Class		7th Class
Ablaut patterns				i (e) : a : u	í : ei : i	jó : au : u.	a : ó : a	e : a : á : e / o		á (a): é (e) : á (a) au : jó : au
INDIC.	Pres.	Sing.	1.	brenn	rís	býð	fer	gef	ber	græt	hleyp
			2.	brenn-r	rís-s	býð-r	fer-r	gef-r	ber-r	græt-r	hleyp-r
			3.	brenn-r	rís-s	býð-r	fer-r	gef-r	ber-r	græt-r	hleyp-r
		Plur.	1.	brenn-um	rís-um	bjóð-um	fǫr-um	gef-um	ber-um	grát-um	hlaup-um
			2.	brenn-ið	rís-ið	bjóð-ið	far-ið	gef-ið	ber-ið	grát-ið	hlaup-ið
			3.	brenn-a	rís-a	bjóð-a	far-a	gef-a	ber-a	grát-a	hlaup-a
	Pret.	Sing.	1.	brann	reis	bauð	fór	gaf	bar	grét	hljóp
			2.	brann-t	reis-t	baut-t	fór-t	gaf-t	bar-t	grét-st	hljóp-t
			3.	brann	reis	bauð	fór	gaf	bar	grét	hljóp
		Plur.	1.	brunn-um	ris-um	buð-um	fór-um	gáf-um	bár-um	grét-um	hljóp-um
			2.	brunn-uð	ris-uð	buð-uð	fór-uð	gáf-uð	bár-uð	grét-uð	hljóp-uð
			3.	brunn-u	ris-u	buð-u	fór-u	gáf-u	bár-u	grét-u	hljóp-u
IMPERAT.				brenn	rís	bjóð	far	gef	ber	grát	hlaup
SUBJ.	Pres.	Sing.	1	brenn-a	rís-a	bjóð-a	far-a	gef-a	ber-a	grát-a	hlaup-a
			2.	brenn-ir	rís-ir	bjóð-ir	far-ir	gef-ir	ber-ir	grát-ir	hlaup-ir
			3.	brenn-i	rís-i	bjóð-i	far-i	gef-i	ber-i	grát-i	hlaup-i
		Plur.	1.	brenn-im	rís-im	bjóð-im	far-im	gef-im	ber-im	grát-im	hlaup-im
			2.	brenn-ið	rís-ið	bjóð-ið	far-ið	gef-ið	ber-ið	grát-ið	hlaup-ið
			3.	brenn-i	rís-i	bjóð-i	far-i	gef-i	ber-i	grát-i	hlaup-i
	Pret.	Sing.	1.	brynn-a	ris-a	byð-a	fœr-a	gæf-a	bær-a	grét-a	hlyp-a
			2.	brynn-ir	ris-ir	byð-ir	fœr-ir	gæf-ir	bær-ir	grét-ir	hlyp-ir
			3.	brynn-i	ris-i	byð-i	fœr-i	gæf-i	bær-i	grét-i	hlyp-i
		Plur.	1.	brynn-im	ris-im	byð-im	fœr-im	gæf-im	bær-im	grét-im	hlyp-im
			2.	brynn-ið	ris-ið	byð-ið	fœr-ið	gæf-ið	bær-ið	grét-ið	hlyp-ið
			3.	brynn-i	ris-i	byð-i	fœr-i	gæf-i	bær-i	grét-i	hlyp-i
INFIN.				brenn-a	rís-a	bjóð-a	far-a	gef-a	ber-a	grát-a	hlaup-a
PART.	Act.			brenn-andi	rís-andi	bjóð-andi	far-andi	gef-andi	ber-andi	grát-andi	hlaup-andi
PART.	Pass.	Masc.		brunn-inn	ris-inn	boð-inn	far-inn	gef-inn	bor-inn	grát-inn	hlaup-inn
		Fem.		brunn-in	ris-in	boð-in	far-in	gef-in	bor-in	grát-in	hlaup-in
		Neut.		brunn-it	ris-it	boð-it	far-it	gef-it	bor-it	grát-it	hlaup-it

EIGHT VERBS WITH THE PRETERITE IN -ra.

INDIC.

Pres.

Sing.

3.

rœ-r

grœ-r

sæ-r

gný-r

sný-r

frý-r

kýs-s

slæ-r

veld-r

Plur.

3.

ró-a

gró-a

sá

gnú-a

snú-a

frjós-a

kjós-a

slá

vald-a

Pret.

Sing.

3.

rø-ri

grø-ri

sø-ri

gnø-ri

snø-ri

frø-ri

kø-ri

slø-ri

ol-li

(or re-ri

gre-ri

se-ri

gne-ri

sne-ri

fre-ri

ke-ri

sle-ri)

IMPERAT.

ró

gró

sá

gnú

snú

frjó-s

kjós

slá

vald

SUBJ.

Pret.

Sing.

3.

rø-ri

grø-ri

sø-ri

gnø-ri

snø-ri

frø-ri

kø-ri

slø-ri

yll-i

INFIN.

ró-a

gró-a

sá

gnú-a

snú-a

frjós-a

kjós-a

slá

vald-a

PART.

Pass.

ró-inn

gró-inn

sá-inn

gnú-inn

snú-inn

fros-inn

kos-inn

sleg-inn

vald-it

frør-inn

kør-inn

Weak verbs

Weak verbs distinguish the tenses of the indicative and subjunctive primarily by adding a suffix with a dental (t, d, or ð). This is the primary mode of distinction of tenses, in contrast with the radical vowel changes characteristic of the strong verbs. Preceded by the dental, the subjunctive endings take the form of their present-tense endings, the indicative singulars of the subjunctive singulars, and the indicative plurals of the plurals with all the endings' vowels changed to U. The dental is preceded by an A in some verbs, causing the past-tenses to become trisyllabic. Aside from the suffices, two conjugations have some subset distinguished by i-umlaut. Except in these, the past-tense singulars of the indicative are indistinct from those of the subjunctive in the weak conjugations.

The first conjugation contains a class of derivates with characteristic suffices: inchoatives in -na, such as vakna; causals in -ga from adjectives in -igr; causals in -ka; iteratives in -sa; verbs in -la, a kind of diminutive; and verbs in -ja, -va, and -ra.^:1

		A. 1ST WEAK CONJUGATION, characteristic vowel a
		boða (að) (bode)						kalla (að) (call)
Infinitive		boð-a						kall-a
		ek	þú	þat	vér	þér	þau	ek	þú	þat	vér	þér	þau
Indicative	Present	boð-a	boð-ar	boð-ar	boð-um	boð-ið (-it)	boð-a	kall-a	kall-ar	kall-ar	kǫll-um	kall-ið	kall-a
	Preterite	boð-aða	boð-aðir	boð-aði	boð-uðum	boð-uðuð	boð-uðu	kall-aða	kall-aðir	kall-aði	kǫll-uðum	kǫll-uðuð	kǫll-uðu
Subjunctive	Present	boð-a	boð-ir	boð-i	boð-im	boð-ið	boð-i	kall-a	kall-ir	kall-i	kall-im	kall-ið	kall-i
	Preterite	boð-aða	boð-aðir	boð-aði	boð-aðim	boð-aðið	boð-aði	kall-aða	kall-aðir	kall-aði	kall-aðim	kall-aðið	kall-aði
Imperative		boð-a						kall-a
		Neuter		Masculine		Feminine		Neuter		Masculine		Feminine
Past Participle		boð-at		boð-aðr		boð-uð		kall-at		kall-aðr		kǫll-uð
Active Participle		boð-andi						kall-andi

		B. 2ND WEAK CONJUGATION, characteristic vowel i
		dœma (da, dr) (judge)						fylgja (ða, t) (help)
Inf.		dœm-a						fylg-ja
		ek	þú	þat	vér	þér	þau	ek	þú	þat	vér	þér	þau
Ind.	Pr.T.	dœm-i	dœm-ir	dœm-ir	dœm-um	dœm-ið	dœm-a	fylg-i	fylg-ir	fylg-ir	fylg-jum	fylg-ið	fylg-ja
	Pa.T.	dœm-da	dœm-dir	dœm-di	dœm-dum	dœm-duð	dœm-du	fylg-ða	fylg-ðir	fylg-ði	fylg-ðum	fylg-ðuð	fylg-ðu
Subj.	Pr.T.	dœm-a	dœm-ir	dœm-i	dœm-im	dœm-ið	dœm-i	fylg-ja	fylg-ir	fylg-i	fylg-im	fylg-ið	fylg-i
	Pa.T.	dœm-da	dœm-dir	dœm-di	dœm-dim	dœm-dið	dœm-di	fylg-ða	fylg-ðir	fylg-ði	fylg-ðim	fylg-ðið	fylg-ði
Imper.		dœm						fylg
		Neuter		Masculine		Feminine		Neuter		Masculine		Feminine
Pa.P.		dœm-t		dœm-dr		dœm-d		fylg-t
Pr.P.		dœm-andi						fylg-jandi

All forms of the 3rd conjugation are i-umlauted except indicative preterites and past participles.

		C. 3RD WEAK CONJUGATION, suppressed characteristic vowel i
		glęðja (ða, ðr) (gladden)						spyrja (ða, ðr) (ask)
Inf.		glęð-ja						spyr-ja
		ek	þú	þat	vér	þér	þau	ek	þú	þat	vér	þér	þau
Ind.	Pr.T.	glęð	glęð-r	glęð-r	glęð-jum	glęð-ið	glęð-ja	spyr	spyr-r	spyr-r	spyr-jum	spyr-ið	spyr-ja
	Pa.T.	glad-da	glad-dir	glad-di	glǫd-dum	glǫd-duð	glǫd-du	spur-ða	spur-ðir	spur-ði	spur-ðum	spur-ðuð	spur-ðu
Subj.	Pr.T.	glęð-ja	glęð-ir	glęð-i	glęð-im	glęð-ið	glęð-i	spyr-ja	spyr-ir	spyr-i	spyr-im	spyr-ið	spyr-i
	Pa.T.	ględ-da	ględ-dir	ględ-di	ględ-dim	ględ-dið	ględ-di	spyr-ða	spyr-ðir	spyr-ði	spyr-ðim	spyr-ðið	spyr-ði
Imper.		glęð						spyr
		Neuter		Masculine		Feminine		Neuter		Masculine		Feminine
Pa.P.		glat-t		glad-dr		glǫd-d		spur-t		spur-ðr		spur-ð
Pr.P.		glęð-jandi						spyr-jandi

Subjunctive preterites of the 4th conjugation are i-umlauted.

		D. 4TH WEAK CONJUGATION, characteristic vowel i
		vaka (ta, tr) (be awake)						duga (ða, at) (help)
Inf.		vak-a						dug-a
		ek	þú	þat	vér	þér	þau	ek	þú	þat	vér	þér	þau
Ind.	Pr.T.	vak-i	vak-ir	vak-ir	vǫk-um	vak-ið	vak-a	dug-i	dug-ir	dug-ir	dug-um	dug-ið	dug-a
	Pa.T.	vak-ta	vak-tir	vak-ti	vǫk-tum	vǫk-tuð	vǫk-tu	dug-ða	dug-ðir	dug-ði	dug-ðum	dug-ðuð	dug-ðu
Subj.	Pr.T.	vak-a	vak-ir	vak-i	vak-um	vak-ið	vak-i	dug-a	dug-ir	dug-i	dug-im	dug-ið	dug-i
	Pa.T.	vęk-ta	vęk-tir	vęk-ti	vęk-tim	vęk-tið	vęk-ti	dyg-ða	dyg-ðir	dyg-ði	dyg-ðim	dyg-ðið	dyg-ði
Imper.		vak(-i)						dug(-i)
		Neuter		Masculine		Feminine		Neuter		Masculine		Feminine
Pa.P.		vak-at		vak-tr		vǫk-t		dug-at
Pr.P.		vak-andi						dug-andi

Present-preterite verbs

		A. THE VERB SUBSTANTIVE
		vera (e, a, á, e) (be)
Infinitive		ver-a
		ek	þú	þat	vér	þér	þau
Imperative		ver	ver-tu	ver	verit
Indicative	Present	em	er-t	er	er-um	er-uð	er-u
	Preterite	va(r/s)	var-t	va(r/s)	vár-um	vár-uð	vár-u
Subjunctive	Present	sé	sé-r	sé	sé-m	sé-ð	sé
	Preterite	vær-a	vær-ir	vær-i	vær-im	vær-ið	vær-i
		Neuter		Masculine		Feminine
Past Participle		ver-it

TEN VERBS WITH PRESENT IN PRETERITE FORM.

INDIC.

Pres.

Sing.

1.

á

kná

má

skal

kann

mun (mon)

man

þarf

ann

veit

2.

á-tt

kná-tt

má-tt

skal-t

kann-t

mun-t

man-t

þarf-t

ann-t

veiz-t

3.

á

kná

má

skal

kann

mun

man

þarf

ann

veit

Plur.

1.

eig-um

kneg-um

meg-um

skul-um

kunn-um

mun-um

mun-um

þurf-um

unn-um

vit-um

2.

eig-uð

kneg-uð

meg-uð

skul-uð

kunn-uð

mun-uð

mun-ið

þurf-ið

unn-ið

vit-uð

3.

eig-u

kneg-u

meg-u

skul-u

kunn-u

mun-u

mun-a

þurf-a

unn-a

vit-u

Pret.

Sing.

1.

á-tta

kná-tta

má-tta

kunn-a

mun-da

mun-da

þurf-a

unn-a

vis-sa

as regular weak verbs

IMPERAT.

eig

kunn

mun

unn

vit

SUBJ.

Pres.

Sing.

1.

eig-a

kneg-a

meg-a

skyl-a

kunn-a

myn-a

mun-a

þurf-a

unn-a

vit-a

as regular weak verbs

Pret.

Sing.

1.

ætt-a

knætt-a

mætt-a

skyl-da

kynn-a

myn-da

myn-da

þyrf-ta

ynn-a

vis-sa

as regular weak verbs

INFIN.

Pres.

eig-a

meg-a

skyl-u

kunn-a

mun-u

mun-a

þurf-a

unn-a

vit-a

Pret.

knúttu

skyl-du

mun-du

PART.

Act.

eig-andi

meg-andi

kunn-andi

mun-andi

þurf-andi

unn-andi

vit-andi

PART.

Pass.

Neut.

ú-tt

má-tt

kunn-at

mun-at

þurf-t

unn-(a)t

vit-at

Suffices

The reflexive pronoun's accusative, sik, is contracted and suffixed to the verb as -k, -sk, or -zk in order to form the reflexive suffix. In the early 13th century, the suffices became -z and -s, and later -zt and -zst.

		A. REFLEXIVE/RECIPROCAL SUFFIX
		ON A WEAK VERB: kalla (að) (call) ()/						ON A STRONG VERB: láta (let)
		ek	þú	þat	vér	þér	þau	ek/þú/þat			vér	þér	þau
Indicative	Present	kǫllu-mk/ kalla-sk	kalla-sk		kǫllu-m(s)k	kalli-sk	kalla-sk	læzk			látu-mk	láti-zk	láta-sk
	Preterite	kǫlluðu-mk/ kallaði-sk	kall(i/a)ði-sk	kallaði-sk	kǫlluðu-m(s)k	kǫlluðu-(s/z)k	kǫlluðu-sk	lézk			létu-mk	létu-zk	létu-sk
Subjunctive	Present	kǫllu-mk/ kalli-sk	kalli-sk		kalli-m(s)k	kalli-(s/z)k	kalli-sk	láti-sk			láti-mk	láti-zk	láti-sk
	Preterite	kǫlluðu-mk/ kallaði-sk	kallaði-sk		kallaði-m(s)k	kallaði-(s/z)k	kallaði-sk	léti-sk			léti-mk	léti-zk	léti-sk
		Neuter		Masculine		Feminine		N.		M.		F.
Past Participle		kalla-zk						láti-zk

VERBS WITH THE NEGATIVE SUFFIX.
			Pres.	Pret.	Pres.	Pret.	Pres.	Pret.	Pres.	Pret.
INDIC.	Sing.	1.	em-k-at	var-k-at(vas-k-at)	skal-k-at	skyldi-g-a	mon-k-a	mundi-g-a	hyk-k-at	átti-g-a
		2.	ert-at-tu	vart-at-tu	skalt-at-tu	skyldir-a	mont-at-tu	mundir-a	hyggr-at	áttir-a
		3.	er-at (es-at)	var-at (vas-at)	skal-at	skyldi-t	mon-at	mundi-t	hyggr-at	átti-t
	Plur.	3.	eru-t	váru-t	skulu-t	skyldu-t	monu-t	mundi-t	hyggja-t	áttu-t
IMPERAT.			ver-at-tu (be not thou!), lát-at-tu (let not thou!), grát-at-tu (weep not thou!), etc.

Pronouns and adjectives

Pronouns and adjectives are generally separate in declension. However, in semantic and syntactic usage the boundary is less clearly cut. Adjectives may be used as in English, to modify a noun (e.g., gótt vatn, good water), or may stand alone as a de facto pronoun (e.g., gótt, a good thing). The only difference in their declensions is the masculine accusative singular ending, which is -n in pronouns and -an in adjectives. Genitive and dative plurals are indistinct in gender for all pronominal and adjectival declensions. The nominative and accusative neuter singular ends in -t when the word's root vowel is short, and -tt when long.

Pronouns

The interrogatives include hvat "what", hví "why", and hvess "what sort", derived from þat, hvar "where" and hveim "whom", derived from þar, hvárt "whether, which of many," and hvęrt, "which of two, each."

There are two relative particles, er or es and sem, which can also be used as relative pronouns or adverbs. Both are completely indeclinable. The former carries the relative (non-interrogative) senses of the words which, who, when, where, and that. The latter corresponds to as, as if, alike, same as, or about the same time as, and may take on any function of er as well.

Some pronouns, such as hvárr, hvęrt, nekkvęrt, and sá, have adjectival function. This usage generally requires a different translation than their pronominal one.

Personal and possessive

Þat's singulars follow the pronominal declension irregularly, and with different lemmata for each gender. Its plurals follow the declension of the cardinal numbers irregularly, and are especially similar to tvau's forms. Variants of hánum include honum and hǫnum.

For the 1st and 2nd person, actions with one's self as an object simply use mik, þik, etc.. For the 3rd person, a separate reflexive pronoun is used, which follows the declension of the 1st and 2nd personal pronouns' singulars.

A. PERSONAL PRONOUNS
		1st	2nd	3rd rflx.	3rd
Number	Case				Neuter	Masc.	Feminine
Singular	Nominative	ek	þú		þat	han-n	hón (hon)
	Accusative	mik	þik	sik			han-a
	Genitive	mín	þín	sín	þess	han-s	hęn-nar
	Dative	mér	þér	sér	því	hán-um	hęn-ni
Dual	Nominative	vit	(þ)it	As sing.	None*
	Accusative	okkr	ykkr
	Genitive	okkar	ykkar
	Dative	okkr	ykkr
Plural	Nominative	vér	(þ)ér		þau	þei-r	þæ-r
	Accusative	oss	yðr			þá
	Genitive	vár	yð(v)ar		þei-rra
	Dative	oss	yðr		þei-m

* Tvau "two" or bœði "both" may be used as substitute for a true 3rd personal dual.

The possessive pronouns are derived from the genitives of the personal pronouns. They are mitt, þitt, sitt, okkart, ykkart, várt, and yðart. The í of those derived from the singulars is shortened before nn or tt.

A. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
		mitt (mín)			yð(v)art (yð(v)ar)			várt (vér)
Number	Case	Neuter	Masc.	Feminine	Neuter	Masc.	Feminine	Neuter	Masc.	Feminine
Singular	Nominative	mi-tt	min-n	mín	yð(v)ar-t	yð(v)ar-r	yður	vár-t	vár-r	vár
	Accusative			mín-a		yð(va)r-an	yð(va)r-a		vár-(a)n	vár-a
	Genitive	mín-s		min-nar	yð(v)ar-s		yð(var)-rar	vár-s		vár-rar
	Dative	mín-u	mín-um	min-ni	yð(u)r-u	yð(u)r-um	yð(var)-ri	vár-u	vár-um	vár-ri
Plural	Nominative	mín	mín-ir	mín-ar	yð(v)ar	yð(va)r-ir	yð(va)r-ar	vár	vár-ir	vár-ar
	Accusative		mín-a			yð(va)r-a			vár-a
	Genitive	min-na			yð(v)ar-ra			vár-ra
	Dative	mín-um			yð(u)r-um			vár-um

Adjectives

The comparative and superlative forms are formed by inserting -r- and -st- or -ar- and -ast- between the uninflected form of the adjective and a strong or weak ending. In the strong adjectives, the definite and superlative are strong when indefinite, weak when definite. The comparatives are weak when both definite and indefinite, and are declined like the active participle. Some strong adjectives i-umlaut their root vowel in their comparatives and superlatives, so that stórt hús (a large house) becomes stœrst (a house most large). The past participles of weak verbs decline as strong adjectives.

Hit

As the definite article, hit appears before a definite adjective and suffixed to a noun. As the past participle of strong verbs, it appears as a verbal suffix. As a suffix, it turns nouns and strong verbs into adjectives with pronominal declension (like itself). The h is always dropped, and the root i is replaced by any vowel at the end of the noun or verb. An instance of umnum in the event of a dative plural is contracted to unum. In other uses, it can appear before an adverb, after a pronoun, between two nouns, or between an adjective and a pronoun (including another adjective).

The first form of the definite article was et/enn/en. It was originally a distinct word, placed after the noun. Later, it appeared as it/inn/in, and in its free form also as hit/hinn/hin. In the late 14th century (particularly in Old Norwegian), an indeclinable form was popular, inu or hinu, but nowhen else.

A related word, hitt, should not be confused with hit, as they are distinct in meaning, stress, and in that the h can never be dropped from hitt.

A. WORDS IN HIT
		hit (the)			komit (is come)			hundrinn (the hound)	eyrat (the ear)
Number	Case	Neut.	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Masc.	Fem.	Masc.	Neut.
Singular	Nominative	hi-t	hin-n	hin	komi-t	komin-n	komin	hundr-inn	eyra-t
	Accusative			hin-a			komn-a	hund-inn
	Genitive	hin-s		hin-nar	komin-s		komin-nar	hunds-ins	eyra-ns
	Dative	hin-u	hin-um	hin-ni	komn-u	komin-um	komin-ni	hundi-num	eyra-nu
Plural	Nominative	hin	hin-ir	hin-ar	komin	komn-ir	komn-ar	hundar-nir	eyru-n
	Accusative		hin-a			komn-a		hunda-na
	Genitive	hin-na			komin-na			hunda-nna	eyra-nna
	Dative	hin-um			komn-um			hundu-num	eyru-num

Strong declension

Jarpt demonstrates the general case for declension. Gótt displays dental assimilation, while nekkvęrt demonstrates pronominal declension.

A. STRONG ADJECTIVAL DECLENSION
		jarpt (brown)			gótt (good)			nekkvęrt (indefinite pronoun)
Number	Case	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	Nominative	jarp-t	jarp-r	jǫrp	gót-t	góð-r	góð	nekkvęr-t	nekkvęr-r	nekkvęr
	Accusative		jarp-an	jarp-a		góð-an	góð-a		nękkvęr-n	nekkvęr-a
	Genitive	jarp-s		jarp-rar	góð-s		góð-rar	nekkvęr-s		nekkvęr-rar
	Dative	jǫrp-u	jǫrp-um	jarp-ri	góð-u	góð-um	góð-ri	nekkvęr-u	nekkvęr-um	nekkvęr-ri
Plural	Nominative	jǫrp	jarp-ir	jarp-ar	góð	góð-ir	góð-ar	nekkvęr	nekkvęr-ir	nekkvęr-ar
	Accusative		jarp-a			góð-a			nekkvęr-a
	Genitive	jarp-ra			góð-ra			nekkvęr-ra
	Dative	jǫrp-um			góð-um			nekkvęr-um

Weak declension

The singulars of the weak adjectival declension are modelled after those of the weak noun declensions, and likewise have a nominative-oblique case dynamic. The plurals are not distinguished in gender, nor in case except the dative.

A. WEAK ADJECTIVAL DECLENSION
		þriðja (third)			Active participle
Number	Case	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	Nominative	þriði-a	þrið-i	þriði-a	-and-a	-and-i	-and-i
	A., G., & D.		þriði-a	þriði-u		-and-a
Plural	N., A., & G.	þriði-u			-and-i
	Dative	þriði-um			-ǫnd-um

Indeclinable

The indeclinable adjectives end in -i or -a. They are not comparable. They originated from regular weak adjectives, the different endings marking gender.

Numbers

Eitt (one) follows the pronominal declension, and hundrað is a strong neuter noun. Tvau, bœði, þrjú, and fjǫgur have only plural, and their declension follows. All other cardinal numbers are indeclinable.

The distributives and multiplicatives are all strong adjectives. The ordinals are weak, except for fyrst and annat, which are strong.

A. CARDINAL NUMBERS
	bœði (both)			tvau (two)			þrjú (three)			fjǫgur (four)
Case	Neut.	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Masc.	Fem.
Nominative	bœð-i	báð-ir	báð-ar	tvau (tvǫ)	tvei-r	tvæ-r	þri-ú	þri-r	þri-ár	fjǫg-ur (fjug-ur)	fjór-ir	fjór-ar
Accusative		báð-a			tvá			þri-á			fjór-a
Genitive	be-ggja			tve-ggja			þri-ggja			fjǫg-urra
Dative	báð-um			tvei-m (tvei-mr)			þri-m (þri-mr)			fjór-um

Footnotes and References

Sources

• Gutasagan, Lars Aronsson, ed. Project Runeberg (1997)
• Harbert, Wayne. The Germanic Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2007)
• Lass, Roger. Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (1993)
• Haugan, Jens Right Dislocated 'Subjects' in Old Norse (Working Papers in Scandinavian Syntax Number 62. 1998) [1]
• Cleasby, Richard. Vigfússon, Guðbrandur. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, (1874). @: Germanic Lexicon Project (images, text), Northvegr (images), Google Books (images)

Notes

Notes from Cleasby-Vigfússon:

See also

Old Norse