Pronoun. Adjective. Numerals. Adverb. (6th lectures) Adjectives

Adjectives in Old English are declined using the same categories as nouns: five cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, and instrumental), three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), and two numbers (singular, plural). In addition, they can be declined either strong or weak. The weak forms are used in the presence of a definite or possessive determiner, while the strong ones are used in other situations.

If the adjective follows a demonstrative pronoun, possessive adjective, or genitive noun or noun phrase, one of the so-called “weak” endings is added to it; otherwise it is given a “strong” ending. Strong and weak adjectives were still distinguished in Chaucer’s English, and they are distinguished even now in German. The weak adjectives are almost exactly the same as the weak nouns. Most of the strong adjective endings resemble those of either the strong nouns or the demonstrative pronouns. Indeed (though some Old English teachers may not approve of our telling you so), you may find it possible to read Old English prose pretty well without having put in a lot of work on adjectives. In a noun phrase like þæs æðelan bōceres ‘the noble scholar’s’, you can get the information that the phrase is genitive singular from either the demonstrative pronoun or the noun. The weak adjective æðelan doesn’t tell you much.

The comparative adjective is made by adding -r- between the root syllable and the inflectional ending, which is always weak regardless of context. The superlative is made by adding -ost, which may be followed by either a weak or a strong inflection. Examples:

heard ‘hard, fierce’	heardra	heardost
milde ‘kind’	mildra	mildost
hāliġ ‘holy’	hāliġra	hālgost
sweotol ‘clear’	sweotolra	sweotolost

Some adjectives have i-mutation in the comparative and superlative forms, and in these cases the superlative element is usually -est. For example:

eald ‘old’	ieldra	ieldest
ġeong ‘young’	ġinġra	ġinġest
hēah ‘high’	hīera	hīehst

A few adjectives have anomalous comparative and superlative forms; these are still anomalous in Modern English, though sometimes in different ways:

gōd ‘good’	betera	betst
	sēlra	sēlest
lȳtel ‘small’	lǣssa	lǣst
miċel ‘large’	māra	mǣst
yfel ‘bad’	wiersa	wierrest, wierst

The weak forms are identical to those for nouns, while the strong forms use a combination of noun and pronoun endings:

The Strong Adjective Declension
Case	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	–	-e	–	-u/–	-u/–	-e, -a
Accusative	-ne	-e	–	-u/–	-e	-e, -a
Genitive	-es	-ra	-es	-ra	-re	-ra
Dative	-um	-um	-um	-um	-re	-um
Instrumental	-e	-um	-e	-um	-re	-um

For the '-u/–' forms above, the distinction is the same as for strong nouns.

Example of the Strong Adjective Declension: gōd 'good'
Case	Masculine			Neuter			Feminine
	Singular	Plural	Singular		Plural	Singular		Plural
Nominative	gōd	gōde	gōd		gōd	gōd		gōde, -a
Accusative	gōdne	gōde	gōd		gōd	gōde		gōde, -a
Genitive	gōdes	gōdra	gōdes		gōdra	gōdre		gōdra
Dative	gōdum	gōdum	gōdum		gōdum	gōdre		gōdum
Instrumental	gōde	gōdum	gōde		gōdum	gōdre		gōdum

Example of the Weak Adjective Declension: gōd 'good'
Case	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	gōda	gōdan	gōde	gōdan	gōde	gōdan
Accusative	gōdan	gōdan	gōde	gōdan	gōdan	gōdan
Genitive	gōdan	gōdena	gōdan	gōdena	gōdan	gōdena
Dative	gōdan	gōdum	gōdan	gōdum	gōdan	gōdum
Instrumental	gōdan	gōdum	gōdan	gōdum	gōdan	gōdum

Note that the same variants described above for nouns also exist for adjectives. The following example shows both the æ/a variation and the -u forms in the feminine singular and neuter plural:

Example of the Strong Adjective Declension: glæd 'glad'
Case	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	glæd	glade	glæd	gladu	gladu	glade
Accusative	glædne	glade	glæd	gladu	glade	glade
Genitive	glades	glædra	glades	glædra	glædre	glædra
Dative	gladum	gladum	gladum	gladum	glædre	gladum
Instrumental	glade	gladum	glade	gladum	glædre	gladum

The following shows an example of an adjective ending with -h:

Example of the Strong Adjective Declension: hēah 'high'
Case	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	hēah	hēa	hēah	hēa	hēa	hēa
Accusative	hēane	hēa	hēah	hēa	hēa	hēa
Genitive	hēas	hēara	hēas	hēara	hēare	hēara
Dative	hēam	hēam	hēam	hēam	hēare	hēam
Instrumental	hēa	hēam	hēa	hēam	hēare	hēam

The following shows an example of an adjective ending with -w:

Example of the Strong Adjective Declension: gearu 'ready'
Case	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural		Singular	Plural
Nominative	gearu	gearwe	gearu	gearu		gearu	gearwe
Accusative	gearone	gearwe	gearu	gearu		gearwe	gearwe
Genitive	gearwes	gearora	gearwes	gearora		gearore	gearora
Dative	gearwum	gearwum	gearwum	gearwum		gearore	gearwum
Instrumental	gearwe	gearwum	gearwe	gearwum		gearore	gearwum

ME: In this period the paradigm of an adjective is simplified drastically. So, main changes: greatest inflectional losses; totally uninflected by end of ME period; loss of case, gender, and number distinctions distinction strong/weak lost but they still exist and used already with the articles appeared in OE (The and that are common developments from the same Old English system. Old English had a definite article se, in the masculine gender, seo (feminine), and þæt (neuter) more as demonstrative pronouns. In Middle English these had all merged into þe, the ancestor of the Modern English word the.) causes in loss of unstressed endings, rising use of definite and indefinite articles

comparative OE -ra > ME -re, then -er (by metathesis), superlative OE -ost, -est > ME -est; beginnings of periphrastic comparison (French influence): swetter/more swete, more swetter, moste clennest; more and moste as intensifiers

 

Adjectives in Middle English work much the same way as they do in Modern English. These descriptive words come before the noun they modify: yong sone young son. There is a Germanic twist, though. As in German and Icelandic, Middle English differentiates between strong and weak adjectives.

Strong adjectives stand on their own before a noun, like the yong in yong sone. They often do not have a final -e (schwa sound).

Weak adjectives come between the article the, the demonstratives (this, that, these, those) or a possessive (his, Annes his, Anne's) and the modified noun. Such adjectives have a final -e (schwa [Swa – нейтральный гласный]): the yonge man and his sweete breeth the young man and his sweet breath.

With plural nouns, it's far easier: adjectives generally take -e, weak or strong (yonge sones, the yonge children young sons, the young children).