4.

1 ME Noun
Types of Declension
Old English Middle English
a-stem singular stān singular stōn
plural stānas plural stōnes
n-stem singular nama singular name
plural namen plural namen
root-stem singular bōc singular book
plural bēc plural books
Borrowed singular corage plural corages
4.1 ME Noun

OE grammatical categories:
number, case and gender
ME grammatical categories:
number and case
4.1 ME Noun

Category of Case
Old English Middle English
Nominative stan nama
Accusative stan naman
Dative stane naman
Genitive stanes naman

Nom+Acc+Dat > Common case

Gen > Genitive case
4.1 ME Noun
• Reduction of the number of declensions
• Reduction of the number of grammatical
categories
• Reduction of the number of cases
4.2 ME article

Sē > the

> ān (ind. pron) > a/an

Ān {
> ān (num) > one
 4.3 ME Adjective

Sing Pl
Indefinite a yong
yonge
Definite the yonge

Degrees of comparison OE productive means:

- suffixation, vowel interchange, suppletive forms
Degrees of comparison ME productive means:
- suffixation, analytical means
4.4 ME Adverb

Endings: -e, -ly, -liche (rarey)

Types: adjectival& non-adjectival

Degrees of comparison: comparative

superlative
4.5 ME Pronouns
OE ME
Nominative Ic > Nominative I
Accusative mec
} Objective me
Dative mēc

Genitive mīn > Gen/Possesive mine

4.5 ME Numerals
Cardinal Ordinal
1 oon first(e)
2 two(o) seconde, secunde
3 thre(e) thridde, thirde
4 four ferthe, fourthe
5 five fifthe
6 sixe sixte
7 sevene seventhe
8 eighte eighthe
9 nine ninthe
10 ten tenthe
4.5 ME Numerals
Ān
is declined like a strong adjective, can be only
Sing., but has masculine, feminine and neuter
genders
Twā
Nominative/Accusative twēgen (Masculine)
twā (Feminine)
twā/tu (Neuter)
Genitive twēgra/twēg(e)a (All genders)
Dative twam (All genders)
4.5 ME Numerals
Ðrēo
Nominative/Accusative Ðrie (Masculine)
Ðreo (Feminine/
Neuter)
Genitive Ðrēora (All genders)
Dative Ðrim (All genders)
4.6 ME Verbs
• Development of analytical forms
• sculan and willan + infinitive >
analytical forms of the future tense
• habban + participle II >
analytical forms of the perfect aspect
• Bēon/wessan + participle II >
analytical forms of the passive voice
• Strong and Weak verbs
 Summary

The system of the declinable parts of speech underwent considerable

simplification, at the same time developing new analytical features:

1. Reduction in the number of the declinable parts of speech.

2. Reduction in the number of declensions (whatever is preserved
follows the a-stem masculine).
3. Reduction in the number of grammatical categories
4. Reduction in the number of the categorial forms (the category of
number of personal pronouns and case — of all nominal parts of
speech)
5. Formation of a new class of words — article.
6. New analytical forms of verbs appeared.