Old High German is an inflected language, 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 a declension. There are five grammatical cases in Old High German.
Grammatical cases A complete declension consists of five grammatical cases.
Description of cases The nominative case, which is used to express the subject of a statement. It is also used with copulative verbs. The accusative 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. The genitive case, which expresses possession, measurement, or source. In English, the genitive case is represented analytically by the preposition of or by the enclitic "–'s", which itself developed from the genitive case. This –'s is related to the common Gothic "-s". The dative case, which expresses the recipient of an action, the indirect object of a verb. In English, the prepositions to, from and for most commonly denote this case analytically. The instrumental case, which is used to express the object with which its activity is performed. It roughly corresponds to the prepositions with and by. This case only survives in masculine and neuter singular vowel-stem strong declensions in Old High German.
Order of cases English grammars of Old High German often present the cases in the order NOM-ACC-GEN-DAT-INST.
Strong vocalic declensions
Note: Declensions are named according to their form in Proto-Germanic. Often intervening sound changes render the once transparent stem endings opaque, and the name may no longer make much sense synchronically. And even diachronically; the i-, ja-, and jō-stems lose their overt i’s in all inherited forms except the masculine and neuter nominative-accusative case during the ninth century.
The -a declension 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.
tag; tagā (-a) day m. wort; wort word n. Singular Plural Singular Plural Nominative, Accusative tag tag–ā (a) wort Genitive tag–es (as) tag–o wort–es (as) wort–o Dative tag–e (a) tag–um (om, un, on) wort–e (a) wort–um (om, un, on) Instrumental tag–u (o) -- wort–u (o) --
Examples of masculine nouns declined like tag "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 singular ackar "acre, field", genitive singular ackres. Note that in these cases, the -a- is an epenthetic vowel that was not originally present (compare Gothic akrs < 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. nominative Petrus, accusative Petrusan; similarly truhtīn "God, Lord", accusative truhtīnan. Examples of neuter nouns declined like wort: 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. nominative zwīfal "doubt", genitive zwīfles. Diminutives in -īn and -līn, e.g. magatīn "little maid" (neuter!), fingarlīn "little finger", are declined the same except in the Upper German dialects. In those dialects, final -n is dropped in the nominative and accusative, and furthermore in Allemannic 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.
The -ja declension This declension was originally just the -a declension with an immediately preceding j. 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.
{| class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="2" | hirti; hirte / hirtā (-a) shepherd m.! colspan="2" | kunni; kunni race n.|- ! Singular! Plural! Singular! Plural|- ! Nominative, Accusative|| hirt–i || hirt–e | colspan="2"| kunn–i |- ! Genitive|| hirt–es|| hirt–eo (io)|| kunn–es|| kunn–eo (io)|- ! Dative|| hirt–ie || hirt–um (un, on) > im (in)|| kunn–ie || kunn–um (un, on) > im (in)|- ! Instrumental|| hirt–iu|| -- || kunn–iu|| -- |} Note that the transition from early to late forms occurred during the ninth century. Late-form ja-stems are declined identically to a-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 in Old English, e.g. rīce "kingdom" (neuter).
Sample nouns like hirti: 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 like kunni: enti "end", rīhhi "kingdom", betti "bed", gizungi "language", finstarnessi "darkness", heri "army" (genitive singular heries, dative singular herie, herige).
The -wa declension
{| class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="2" | snē-o; snēwā (-a) snow m.! colspan="2" | kne-o; kne-o knee n.|- ! Singular! Plural! Singular! Plural|- ! Nominative, Accusative|| snē–(o)|| snē–wā (wa)| colspan="2"| kne–(o)|- ! Genitive|| snē–wes|| snē–wo|| knë–wes|| knë–wo|- ! Dative|| snēw–e|| snēw–um (un, on)|| knëw–e|| knëw–um (un, on)|}
Notes: -o in the nominative can be dropped following a long vowel. When a consonant precedes the -w, an epenthetic vowel -a- (sometimes -o- or -e-) appears in the oblique cases, e.g. neuter trëso "treasure", genitive trësawes. Among the other nouns in this declension: Masculine lēo "grave", sēo "sea", scato (genitive scatawes) "shadow", bū (genitive būwes) "dwelling". Neuter rēo "corpse", zëso (genitive zësawes) "right side", smëro (genitive smërawes) "grease".
The -ō declension 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.
{| class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="2" | gëba; gëbā gift f.|- ! Singular! Plural|- ! Nominative, Accusative|| gëb–a|| gëb–ā|- ! Genitive|| gëb–a (u, o)|| gëb–ōnō|- ! Dative|| gëb–u (o)|| gëb–ōm (–ōn, –on)|}
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".
The -jō declension {| class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="4" | sunta; sunte, -eā (-iā) / suntā sin f.! colspan="4" | kuningin; kuninginnā queen f.|- ! Singular! colspan="3" | Plural! colspan="2" | Singular! colspan="2" | Plural|- ! Nominative, Accusative| rowspan="2"| sunt–e(a), ia || colspan="3" | sunt–e(ā), iā | colspan="2"| kuningin | colspan="2" |kuningin-nā|- ! Genitive| colspan="3" | sunt–eōno | colspan="2"| kuningin–na|| colspan="2" | kuninginn–ōno|- ! Dative|| sunt–iu || colspan="3" | sunt–eōm| colspan="2"| kuningin–nu|| colspan="2" | kuninginn–ōm (–ōn)|}
Sample nouns like sunta: hella "hell", sibba, sippa "peace", minna "love", krippa "manger".
Sample nouns like kuningin: forasagin "prophetess", friuntin "friend", burdin "burden".
Only early-form jō-stems like sunta are declined in any obviously different way than the other ō-stems. The injō-stems only lack the nominative and accusative singular in -a which the ō-declension should have, which is comparatively subtle.
The -i declension 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.
{| class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="4" | gast; gesti guest m.! colspan="4" | anst(i); ensti favor f.|- ! colspan="2" | Singular! colspan="2" | Plural! colspan="2" | Singular! colspan="2" | Plural|- ! Nominative, Accusative| colspan="2"| gast || colspan="2" | gest–i | colspan="2"| anst(i) || colspan="2" | enst–i |- ! Genitive| colspan="2"| gast–es|| colspan="2" | gest–eo (io)| colspan="2"| enst–i|| colspan="2" | enst–eo (io) |- ! Dative| colspan="2"| gast–e|| colspan="2" | gest–im (in) > en| colspan="2"| anst–i|| colspan="2" | enst–im (in) > en|- ! Instrumental| colspan="2"| gast (gest)–iu || colspan="6" | --
The -u declension This declension was much more reduced compared to other old Germanic languages such as Old English. Most nouns were transferred outright to the i- or sometimes the a-declension, and the remaining nouns were heavily influenced by the i-declension—only the nominative and accusative singular are different, ending in -u.
{| class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="4" | situ; siti custom m.! fihu cattle n.|- ! colspan="2" | Singular! colspan="2" | Plural! Singular|- ! Nominative, Accusative| colspan="2"| sit–u || colspan="2" | siti–i || fih–u |- ! Genitive| colspan="2"| sit–es|| colspan="2" | sit–eo (io)|| fih–es|- ! Dative| colspan="2"| sit–e|| colspan="2" | sit–im (–in) > en|| fih–e|- ! Instrumental| colspan="2"| sit–iu|| colspan="3" | --
Notes: Five masculine nouns follow this declension: situ "custom", fridu "peace", hugu "understanding", sigu "victory", and sunu "son" (also sun). Only a single neuter noun, fihu "cattle", follows the declension, and exists only in the singular. The only trace of a feminine u-declension is in the word hant "hand", declined as a feminine i-stem except in the dative plural, where the old u-declension forms hantum, -un, -on persist.
The -ī declension This class consists of feminine abstract nouns and came about through the falling together of two declensions that were still different in Gothic: compare the Gothic -ei stems (a subclass of the weak declension, formed from adjectives, e.g. diupei "depth", genitive diupeins, from diups "deep") and -eins stems (a subclass of the i-declension, formed from Class I weak verbs, e.g. dáupeins "a dipping", genitive dáupeináis, from dáupjan "to dip"). {| class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="2" | hōhī (hōhīn); hōhī (hōhīn) height f.|- ! Singular! Plural|- ! Nominative, Accusative| rowspan="3"| hōhī(–n)|| hōhī(–n)|- ! Genitive| hōhī–no|- ! Dative| hōhī–m (n)|} 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".
Strong consonantal declensions
The monosyllabic consonant declension
{| class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="2" | man; man man m.! colspan="2" | naht; naht night f.|- ! Singular! Plural! Singular! Plural|- ! Nominative, Accusative| colspan="2"| man | colspan="2"| naht |- ! Genitive|| mann–es|| mann–o| rowspan="2"| naht || naht–o|-