§§ 182-4] Declension of Nouns 87 § 182. Like waurd are declined a great many Gothic neuter nouns, e. g. agis (gen. agísis), fear; akran, fruit; awistr, sheepfold; barn, child; blōþ (gen. blōþis), blood; đius (gen. diuzis), wild beast; đaúr, door; eisarn, iron; gras (gen. grasis), grass; faaurn, horn; huzđ, treasure; jēr,year; jní,yoke; kaúrn, corn; láun,pay, reward· leik, body, flesh; maurþr, murder; riqīs (gen. riqizis),darkness; silubr, silver; skip, ship; tag!, hair; tagr, tear. Like háubiþ are declined liuhaþ. light; witōþ, law. b. ja-stems. § 183. Apart from the -j- it is necessary in this class of nouns to distinguish between (i) nouns which have a short stem-syllable or a long open stem-syllable and (2) those which have a long closed stem-syllable or when the stem (apart from any prefix) is of more than one syllable. In the former case the gen. sing, regularly ends in -jis and in the latter in -eis, see §§ 153, 157. This distinction was preserved in the masculines, but in the neuters the original difference was almost entirely obliterated in favour of nouns belonging to (i). The old and the new forms exist side by side in a few words, as gen. anđbahteis, gawaírþeis, beside anđbahtjis, gawaírþjis. Cp. § 153 note. § 184. Masculines. SING. Norn, harjis, army haírđeis, herdsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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