Unit 16 The Adjective

Forms of the Old English adjective expressed the categories of gender (M, F, N), number (sg. and pl.), and case (Nom, Gen, Dat, Ace).

In Old English, as in all other Germanic languages, adjectives had strong and weak inflexions, but they differed from nouns in that: every adjective (with very few exceptions) was capable of being declined both strong and weak.

Important exceptions are ōþer, and the possessives mīn, þīn, etc, which are declined strong, and the comparatives which end in –a in Nominative singular masc., e.g.: blindra (blinder), and are declined weak.

Which form of adjective is used depends not on the type of the noun with which it is used, but on how it is used. The strong form is used when the adjective stands alone, e.g.: ‘the man is old’ se mann is eald, or just with a noun, e.g.: ‘old men’ ealde menn. The weak form appears when the adjective follows a demonstrative, e.g.: ‘that old man’ sē ealde mann, or a possessive pronoun, e.g.: ‘my old friend’ mīn ealda freond. You can remember that the strong forms stand alone, while the weak forms need the support of a demonstrative or a possessive pronoun [Mitchell, 2007].

Most of the endings of the strong adjective declension were the same as those of the strong declension of nouns. Most of the endings of the weak adjective declension were identical with those of the weak noun declension.

The Strong Declension

The characteristic features of the strong adjective declension are:

1. Instr. sg. is different from Dat. sg. for masculine and neuter genders.

2. Several endings are taken from the declension of pronouns (the pronominal endings).

3. The rest are nominal endings. Most adjectives are declined as a-stems for the masculine and neuter genders and as ō-stems for the feminine.

4. In the strong declension two groups are distinguished:

- short-stemmed adjectives: cwic (alive), glæd, blase, smæl, etc.

- long-stemmed adjectives: gōd, brād, dēop, wīs, blind, eald, wearm, englisc, etc.

5. The declension of the above-given groups is identical except in two forms. In the Fern. Nom. sg. and the Neut. Nom./Acc, pl. the short-stemmed adjectives have the ending -u. The long-stemmed adjectives have no ending (zero ending) in the same position, so we have gladu but blind.

6. Adjectives with æ in the root syllable change it to a before all endings beginning with a vowel: glæd - gladu. The paradigm of the strong declension of the short-stemmed adjectives:

Singular	Masc.	Neut.	Fem.
N.	glæd	glæd	gladu (-o)
G.	glades	glades	glædre
D.	gladum	gladum	glædre
A.	glædne	glæd	glade
I.	glade	glade

Plural

N.	glade	gladu (-o)	glada (-e)
G.	glædra	glædra	glædra
D.	gladum	gladum	gladum
A.	glade	gladu (-0)	glada (-e)

The paradigm of the strong declension of the long-stemmed adjectives:

Singular	Masc.	Neut.	Fem.
N.	blind	blind	blind
G.	blindes	blindes	blindre
D.	blindum	blindum	blindre
A.	blindne	blind	blinde
I.	blinde	blinde

Plural

N.	blinde	blind	blinda (-e)
G.	blindra	blindra	blindra
D.	blindum	blindum	blindum
A.	blinde	blind	blinda (-e)

Note: Dissyllabic adjectives often drop their second syllable vowel before a case ending beginning with a vowel: hālig (holy) - (G) hālges - (D) hālgum - (Acc.) hāligne, etc.