Basic adjective inflexions

Just as in the case of noun inflexion (see 3.1.4), it is the basic patterns the student needs to grasp. Minor variations — to the extent they cause problems of understanding — can be noted and learnt when they are encountered.

From 3.3.2 and 3.3.3 above it will be clear that — the comparative and superlative suffixes and comparative endings apart — there are two distinct types of adjective inflexion in Old Norse, strong and weak.

Both types, as already observed, inflect for number, case and gender.

With two numbers, four cases and three genders, there is thus a possi-ble total of twice twenty-four different inflexions. In fact, because the same form may occur in different parts of the paradigm, the total is much smaller: fundamentally, there are thirteen different strong ad-jective forms and just four weak. They are as follows (~ = zero, i.e.

there is no ending, the form consisting of root alone — e.g. rík ‘pow-erful’, strong nom. f. sg.; actual paradigms are given in 3.3.9).

Strong masculine

Sg. nom. -r Pl. nom. -ir

acc. -an acc. -a

gen. -s gen. -ra

dat. -um dat. -um

Weak masculine

Sg. nom. -i Pl. nom. -u

acc. -a acc. -u

gen. -a gen. -u

dat. -a dat. -um

Strong feminine

Sg. nom. ~ Pl. nom. -ar

acc. -a acc. -ar

gen. -rar gen. -ra

dat. -ri dat. -um

Weak feminine

Sg. nom. -a Pl. nom. -u

acc. -u acc. -u

gen. -u gen. -u

dat. -u dat. -um

Strong neuter

Sg. nom. -t Pl. nom. ~

acc. -t acc. ~

gen. -s gen. -ra

dat. -u dat. -um

Weak neuter

Sg. nom. -a Pl. nom. -u

acc. -a acc. -u

gen. -a gen. -u

dat. -a dat. -um

Certain regularities will be observed in these paradigms.

(1) The dat. pl. always ends in -um.

(2) Apart from the dat., the weak pl. ends in -u throughout.

(3) There are no distinct case-forms in the weak sg. except in the nom. masculine and feminine.

(4) The strong gen. pl. always ends in -ra.

(5) There is no difference between the neuter nom. and acc., sg.

or pl., weak or strong.

(6) The strong feminine nom. and acc. pl. have the same ending.

(7) The strong masculine and neuter gen. sg. have the same ending.

As well as observing these regularities, the student will notice that adjectival and noun inflexion have much in common. Attention has already been drawn to the complete identity between the singular forms of weak nouns and adjectives. Other instances where the forms are identical or closely similar (all in the strong declension bar (10), which applies to both strong and weak) are as follows.

(1) Nom. m. sg. in -r.

(2) Gen. m. and n. sg. in -s.

(3) Nom. f. sg. with zero ending.

(4) Gen. f. sg. in -ar (noun), -rar (adj.).

(5) Nom. m. pl. in vowel + r.

(6) Acc. m. pl. in vowel.

(7) Nom./acc. f. pl. in vowel + r.

(8) Nom./acc. n. pl. with zero ending.

(9) Gen. pl. in -a (noun), -ra (adj.).

(10) Dat. pl. in -um.

The student should further observe the close similarity between the strong adjectival endings and those of pronouns such as hinn, nƒkkurr, engi, hverr (cf. 3.2.2, 3.2.3, 3.2.4, 3.2.5). The similarity becomes even clearer when the many adjectives with an -in suffix are added to the equation and the comparison is extended to certain of the possessive adjectives and the suffixed definite article (probably a reduced form of hinn, cf. 3.2.2).

Adjectives in -in inflect according to the tables above, but with three distinct deviations (see the example kominn, 3.3.9, paradigm 7).

(1) Where the tables show an ending in or beginning with -r, adjectives in -in have -n instead, e.g. -inn (strong nom. m. sg.), -inni (strong dat.

f. sg.). This is because an earlier r has assimilated to the n (-inn < *-inr, -inni < *-inri, cf. hinn < *hinr, 3.2.3). (2) The n of the suffix disap-pears in the strong nom./acc. n. sg. ending, giving -it (the end result of the development *-int > *-itt > -it, cf. hitt, nom./acc. n. sg. of hinn (3.2.2)). (3) The strong acc. m. sg. has the same form as the nom., ending in -inn. It should also be noted that the -i- of the -in suffix is dropped when the inflexional ending consists of an additional sylla-ble, except in the strong gen. and dat. f. sg. and the strong gen. pl., e.g.

-nir (strong nom. m. pl.), -ni (weak nom. m. sg.), -inna (strong gen.

pl.). This is not unlike what happens to the suffixed definite article (see 3.1.9), although the pattern is not wholly identical. Most two-syllable adjectives, in fact, drop the unstressed vowel of the second syllable according to the pattern of those in -in. A great many of these have an -al, -il, or -ul suffix (see the example gamall, 3.3.9, paradigm 8), and, just as with the n of -in, the immediately following r of the in-flexional endings is assimilated to the l, giving -ll(-) instead of the expected *-lr(-), e.g. -all (strong nom. m. sg.), -allar (strong gen. f. sg.).

The possessive adjectives of the first and second person and the third person reflexive possessive (i.e., words corresponding to English

‘my’, ‘our’, etc. and, with pronominal function, ‘mine’, ‘ours’, etc.) inflect according to one or other of the strong adjective patterns just discussed. Minn ‘my’ (see 3.3.9, paradigm 21), flinn ‘your [sg.]’, sinn

‘his/her/its/their own’ go for the most part like adjectives in -in (but without loss of the i at any point since in the possessives it is part of the root syllable). It is worth noting, however, that in having the nom./

acc. n. sg. forms mitt, flitt, sitt, they parallel even more closely the paradigm of the pronoun hinn, the only difference between the two being that the root vowel of the possessives is long before everything except a geminate consonant, e.g. minn (nom. m. sg.), míns (gen. m.

or n. sg.). Várr ‘our [pl.]’ is inflected according to the strong pattern of the tables above, except that, as with certain pronouns, the acc. m.

sg. ends in -n (várn). Okkarr ‘our [dual]’, ykkarr ‘your [dual]’ and y›(v)arr ‘your [pl.]’ parallel várr (acc. m. sg. okkarn, ykkarn, y›(v)arn), but as two-syllable words drop the unstressed vowel of the second syllable according to the pattern of the two-syllable adjectives dis-cussed above (giving, for example, acc. f. sg. okkra, ykkra, y›ra).

It remains to list the adjective endings that follow the comparative suffix.

Masculine

Sg. nom. -i Pl. nom. -i

acc. -a acc. -i

gen. -a gen. -i

dat. -a dat. -um

Feminine

Sg. nom. -i Pl. nom. -i

acc. -i acc. -i

gen. -i gen. -i

dat. -i dat. -um

Neuter

Sg. nom. -a Pl. nom. -i

acc. -a acc. -i

gen. -a gen. -i

dat. -a dat. -um

This minimal set of endings is also the one used with present parti-ciples, e.g. sofandi (nom. m. sg., f. sg., nom./acc./gen. pl.) ‘sleeping’

(see 3.3.9, paradigm 19).

These are the essentials of adjectival inflexion in Old Norse. It is not the whole story, but all other adjective inflexions can be seen as variations on this basic pattern. It is vitally important that the student masters the endings set out and discussed on pp. 80–84 before proceeding to the finer detail.