TilE IRREGIJ LAR DECLENSION OF THE OLD

KOII. SE NOUN .IfR' ' MAIDEN'

The Old No"", noun 101", 'maiden' (Gol hk "' 0 .... 1 bo:loDg.
primarily to the and loS such ;t resula. in its
infteClion in aU ases ueept the nom. sing., where the ending- '
hu !>ten borrowed f. om th. long j6-slcms. Only one oth ..
r.ho.l1'd-. I.m in Old Nor.., has .imilady th. , ,,,nding in
Ih. nom . ing namdy Pi' 'ma'd-..,.vant ,' .kaldie fo.m fo r Pi
(Golhic pi",<). Sineeboth the'" fo.ms, "''''' lind /II' . a.e obviously
analogical formations dter the modd of the long 1'6-stems in
the nom . ing., th. qneslion nalu .... lly arc.... a. 10 tbe . u!!On
for Ihi. analogy. L. I uS nrst, however, t . ace Ihe phonet i.
dev.lopment of the form lOla' nom . inK.
As the Gothi. nOUn "' 0"'; nom . ing., Ken. sing. elc.
oho"'", th. olem 01 Ihe word in Primilive Ge. manic w:u ' ",u_
1'6-. The root .yllable . "' .... _, .. hich in Got hic was long. bo:camc
r.ho.t in Primiti,-. NoISe accordinS to the specific No.th Ge. -
manic la .... Ihal a syllable is sho' l, if it ends in I long vo",.1 o.
in a diphlhong di". tJy followed by anolh \"owel.' The _j_ in
' ",ou-j6- was a vocalic glide (i.e., i, "'o .... j6-) Ind therefor.th
.oot syllabi. ' ", au- wa' in Prim;t;,. Nor!<' t.eated as a Iho.t
Iylb.ble ..... actly u, fo. ,n"ance, Ihe $yUahle ,h,_ in thelite ty
fo, m "y-1'o or h_ in h oG. Con"'qu.nlly, Primili,. NGne
cam. to be gularly ;nflted ;n Old NoISe U
Iho,ljd-stem;n.n cases (uc.pt the nom. Ii;ng.) : thus,
Sing. Pl ur.
Nom. "''''' (late, "'<y, "U)1a) "'<yjo,
Gen. ""'>1oT ",e:-1'o
Dat. """K'"
Ace. "' ., ... . "0'
o Tho dip/Ltbons .. w been ulOd lhrou,houllb.ir. Aumbc. iLL pb o!
.. , be ., b.u DO' Y'" _ obi. 10 _u, he P"'P'" d .. "" t ...
'Cf. lIohbl ... o .t iJI. 11, H< ........ .t W.

'"
Il.
1 til. nnm. had undt'l!ont a regular phonetic develop-
ment flom P. N. ",an-j- (Gothic """ ... ) wilhout Ihe addition
of the rotlSl)Jlanlal ending _R of the O. N. long j6.-sLtrn., "'.
should in this ca.., have had the form ' ",., (ef., r. g., ey 'i.Jand'
.... -H. But $iuCt tht form ... ty doc. not occur until ".ry
we mu. , "",11m. Ihal "'., ill n(lt the phonetic form
bUI ,\ later analoginl form .ftrr tbe mood of Ih. short
j,,-, tema which did not add r (. R) in the nom. sl ng., such ",
for instance, 'J 'island.'
lithe tndin/t -R had bun added 10 tht nnm . ing. after the
period when had regularly rcdueed to "" Y ....
should in this ca.S<> have had in O. N. the form -"" Po not "'otr.
musl.Mume that the O. N. fo. m "1<,,. was devel
oped directly Irom P. N. ",u",,; R and that therdore lh. -,
in "''"" had already bun added in timO'S.
The ,..,dunioR <.>1 P. N. "'dlllli.R to "'ctr oilers. 50 fa r at
J can see. no serious difficulti..,; thus "'allll...;R> .... all R>
' ",4-R > "maR> """.
The unaccenled ; after the shon root 5yUabl. "",n ....
1 ... 1 btfore il could modify (i.e . umlaut) tbe radical dipht hong
the II of Ih. radial diphthong all ( ... all.R) "'.1 loot bc:fo,e
it could unt any influence (i.e ..... umlaut) up<>n the preceding
short vo ... el' d, olherwise lhe rn ultant compensativ. long
vo .... 1 would ha,'c an q instead of 4; this 4 became thru
tb. influence 01 the immediately follo ... ing R' (i. . , the _called
Rumlaut).
The queslion no .. arm at to ,..h, the . hon jl.l tem ",In
and }f mould ha"" b<.>rrowed the . (R).eoding of Ih. long
j4-. tem. in th. nom . ing. Since ooth "'tt. 'maiden' and PI'
d.not. the female U;t. it i. r sonabl. 10 &!Sume
thaI Ihe analoty bc:t .. een the.., Iwo ,,'ord. and Ihe loog jlJ-
stehl. was due to the facl th&t .. ords btlonging 10 lhe long j6-
CI. r: ........ A"l C. ...... lIk iJ1l. ADm. 1 .
0 . ' .1., ' ..,j;"R>,o/t. (GoIlI, .. 014..,q,.; d . Norem. Aitl.
G .. ,......,;t' .I6J. l,
' 0 _. <-1_. .. (Goxh.. ..... _. ""'><' (Goth. , ,, ..;.to
,w"",,> ; d. Non<n. i6OoI \17.1.
a .. ' .1-.' (0. 5 .. 1. 1 ,...).,.-. (0. 5_.'''). ot<.; d. N.,....... iftI .
t61.).
'"
s(ems mOre ohen denoted woman or the female 5eK than di<1
words belonging to the sbort j6-llems.
As matter "I fac t , .. ide from proP<" name" the are
no shortj6-sttms (except""" and pt. ) which denote the female
su, .. hucas thue art msny such words belonging to the long
joJ..lems; such as, for instance, "" ' giantrss,' " , . (poetic word
for) ' woman,' yil" ' she- wolf: l)'llr 'sow' (d. nit ' bo.I.'),
1tIn, 'mire,' etC.
The . -ending in the Mm, slng. of leminin. stems may Ibul
Come In be Idt as. charo.tluistil: sign lor wor ds denoting
Ih. lema]. IU and for t his .eason may have bo. n ad<kd by
force 01 analogy 10 thO$e short j6-stems Whic h denoted the
female suo Thus, for instance, if ,yll. 'sow' (long j6-slem),
with the , -ending in Ihe nom, ling., denotes the female $1:%
con.spending to the m .. culine ,q<lI. 'boar' ( .. -stem), MI in like
t he _r in "',.. (shortjl-stem) 'mliden,' 'young woman,'
'dauShlu' may bave been added in order 10 denote the female
.u (orresponding 10 Ihe ma""uline "' fP
- Colh ..... , WI) 'boy,' 'young man,' '""".'
But of all thooe long jl-.tems ( ... ide from propn names)
denoting ",oman by fa r the most importanl in its oofing upon
Ihi . quntion is (Col hic bdlJn). The .. ord b"J", denoted
not only .. yQ""I "' G,,;td "., ,,, n, .but a15O, like "'If' , .. 14W"1
.... "" .. 11. ", .. id,". du, hI" . The t .. o wo,d. w .. e, in
c;"l!y in poetry often .. sed synonymously' and t herefore it
5m. probable tbat t b. addition of the _r in Mar wu in large
part due 10 the inBuene. of the wend .. hieh, lho origi nally
' 1'ropo1" .. ",.. for .",1'1 .... oxao. quite lr<qllrntJy _s obort j ... t ..... , .ud>
. .. lor .. ",..,.. , , ;", sq, S;u U>d ,lI< "","pou"'" <ndi", ill -<"1, " .,. 0,
.(.) ...... B"r-.'. Sir,., 01<.
'n.. la . hould ,lso bo notl,"", the oaly ........... "ta1 l. oUnion .. hlch.
...uln tilt old ...... . iDe- ' ''''iDl in .... <!<not< tile I ..... le ... of ... j,,'h; tbos<
11.,.. 'mw,' * '..,..' _ .. ...... .
I Q., . , ., c.-.. .. ,. to, 8 -. ud 24, 1.1 'd.a"p.
, of the _ otolo-s!o.' ..
an ;-stem,' had in the paued over into (hej6-
inflection. We may a5Sume then In analogy in form bttw n
the jl-stem .. (R) and Ihe long ' b"Iji+R
by .earon of the identily 01 meaning btlweell IWO words.
bet mu.t abo bt taken into con";deralion that of the
j6-. term., which wen ""rsoni6ed or used .. maiden names, by
far the gruter proportion btlongs to the long stem. and COIl$C ..
quently add . ... to the nOm. sing., such as, for instance, Ihj>r,
Frf/W, Gttjw, If;]dr, II .... , Ri .. dr, Jl rtljw and the compounds end ..
ing in "(fl . ljw, .. , u/>r, ., .. jw, .. *iii. , .. (el. Ra' .. ..,."jIr,
16-/.1"', Si, ... lp. , }o ... B. ,... ... ;]d. , etc.) .
The Ilct Ihen thai such. l.<ge numbt. of maiden namn
btlonV to the long j6-ucm. (and t hlll add. r to the nom.
";ng.) lend. incru .. d evidtnce 10 the as.umption that the .. ,
... s added 10 Ihe nom. sing. ,.",.. (P. N. o",a".'; .. R) because,
like these names, the word ",<t. denoted ... aiden; and the same
must be t rue 01 the . hortj6-$tempfr (for p, ) 'maid .. servanl .'
Many 0 1 th. long j6-stem. originally belonged 10 Ih. , ..
infl"tion (such ,..,11" Gn". (G"Jr ). A .. Jw, U.d.,
etc. ). It Hems dear then that Ihe r ( .. R) in the nom . ing. of
th. long j6-stem. owed IU origin to juS! . uch feminine j., tems,
aU of which denoted th female .. Thus the . ( R) .. ending
Cf. tho loa, i4 1rn1 ..... , . UIr, ""'Jr (Cotlo. 'a .... ",' wrucll ;"
.......... 1 .. po' ,ed "" .. in,o the Ioncikt ...... Thio .... nI wa. 01"_ UO<d lor
'valkyrie ot ... rriorm,id..,: .-.pocit.Uy ill <omp><Ind. (e.c., .1;<11 ....... '1><1-.
...... , ... : ... rrior"",id<ao,. Simibrty U,I . ("na:\o-Sa,,,, .,...s) ', <: ...t
... be ...... 01 ..... 01" t he 1''''''", ...... ..,.;pDy on ......... bu. bt .... In
1Ioct..! Ii .... lone jk,=. ":Upl I> tb .. ot. ..... ((J, I) .
.. AU otho. f"";.w.. 141<'" ( i .. , t __ ",.....u.S tho ' ..... 1 .... ) _bkh
"I.>ioullbt .Rin the """'. sin, . """ .... 0\ 01 "",d .. , d ., .... , ....
maK. ..... .,. .. Gotbic .... Inn. 1-st<Dt ... d ",*K ............ Gotbk
. ... ".I.m. ' .. >mo. , .... til .. qu .. tion <f. W.-, '" I..,...!j-.d ""k v",,""IoY"
lop< SIIl1.u,... I U",ol4 FII>rIotJ ..
I",.." 1916-1918, PI>- I!J 11:.
Rqanlil>l tho oric\nal 0/ I=inln< .-... in 01<1 N""" d.
1.,,1><, Oku, "\' oIby . .. uictldo lUo<ll><laluil''"' Em'; ... ;" I., .....
obf-SoId06, F ... loaa<Ui.,tr, 1907, p. 10. A<>n!iq to Pni ...... 0t.aI .be
oti!Iul ' ... i.' .... , .... ......... in tho oloJ'llor ...... ' hr. ... broItm dow. in 1._
01" other d' lao, be"'"' i1 ... preblotoric ..... , Vi hr.. ikII. midl<r til .t
"'dII .. , ..... dm 1 ... ! i ... i .... I .. apci .. t,""" d .. leu v .....
twil_, ... do"" ...... v_ oUt-t<1l pI,tuad ..... hiotorisU tid."
01 the nom. ,ing. in the 10"1 to t..., lelt a, a ,ign
for denoting the female stI. From these noUnl (such as "'''p.r,
M/14 , etc.) the -. (_R) spread as I. regular <I.SO: ending for the
nom . inC. to all t he long jtI .. ,tem. irrespective of .ex (d.
A';}-., 'healb' ). From the long j6-. teml lbe . (R)ending of
the nom. ,ing. _ . tben tranrJured by analogy to tbou short
j6-lIeml , wbich Mooted tbe female WI (i.c. , """, and PI') .
The quntion now a.u.s .. to the noun ""u borrowcd
its _. (- R) from the longj, ... tems.
1 wc exami ne the ending. of the ",guiar .bort and long
4-.tu" in Old NOn<: (Le., in historical times), .. e find that
lbest endings of tbe t .. o cl ane. differ only in the treatment of
the .. j_ of tho ucept in lbe nom. "ng. where the
long j6-, teuu have boft owed the . ending of the i_declension.
Before the time when this different trealment was accorded t o
j after shoTt and after long .yllablcs, the endings in Primitive
Norse were most proba.bly the lame for both ShOTt and long
.tcllU" (except in the nom. &i ng.), jnn IS in Gothic. Thus,
for instance, the declenoion 01 the .hort j6-stem .. a ..
would at this p"riod in question bave beon identical .. it h the
dedension of the long j 6-stem .i/J .. i6- in all (.I.'" e.xctpt the
nOm. sing.:
Sing.
Nom. "'" .... _I_(R) > "''''. >
Gen. "", .... -j6R >WUy-jM
Dal. . ""' ...... j .. >",. y-{ju) ';iJd-ju >,;iJdi
Ace. ",an.j.. > "'., JrjId1" >AiJd;
If we a ume that it wa. during thi. prdU' I"rie p"Tiod
Ihal "' .... w;..(R) borrowed its .. R from the 10ngj6-items, then
t he other case forms (i.e. , other than the nom. sing.) of the
word could not have bun affected by this analogy, since at this
time tbe endings for both long and short j6-.lcmS were mOSI
probllbly Ihe Nome (except in Ihe nom. sing.). This a .. umption
may .up!ain .. hy the noun "'Ir' did not in the "th.r tas .. pass
Ove r inloth. inflection of the !ongj'_sttml .
But t H n if Iht borrowing of Ih. _R in o"'Gllu_o"-{R) b.d
occurred at a lal er p"Tiod .. hen the .j- of the suffix syllabI.
"Cf. II ....... , Ai". 1214.
'"
had ,I,..,ady bn a lo"g syllable at the time
when had alrudy become hiMo R), we should
hardly have expected lhe borro .... ing of case endings (on the
pact of the short j k tems) 10 be enended beyond lb. nom.
sing., in.o.srnuch as tb R_ending of the nom. sing. ( .. " ......... R)
"' .. in iuelf 10 characterize the noun IS denoli,,!! the
female !leI, " vc, asainst all ot h short j6-Jlem, .. hieh did not
denote the female suo Borrowing of case endings was olien
confined 10 one or mOre castS wlillo,,! levelling lb. whole
d.dension. "
Wheth.r lhe -R in "''' .... _i_R wu !>orrowed from the long
jl-slems befo. e the lime when Ibis _R had kcome ... li.td
.. the nom . ending for 1h. long j".. tcms, il io, of coun .. ,
imJ>05.'ible 10 determine. But it .urn. most likely that 1hi. was
th .. case (i.e. , thaI ... ulli. became the time
... hfn, f, g., k,;",_ became o.rip;.Ii'), of the fac t that the
analogy in qUe"ion had iU sti rling point in nouns of the i_
dknMoo d."o/i", de J ....u. In (1uch lIS hr4p" IIU" ftC.) .
This assumption is aU the mOre pbusibfe in t hat such nOuns
.... re oomelimu identical io muning ",ith "'<Or (d. br ill", _v(Ir
(in compouods) _ "'..., ' maiden,' }>I. 'maid_K,vant').
ALBEn M o n t y SttillTE.\'''NT
liulOS UN;.crsily
. tho ., 01 tho ..... 01 til< Ioqjk ''''''' whi<h ....
botloued I""" lht ; infionioo (d. lot",., .. bid! ..... in! llIio .,.), or.ho ....
01.1>0 "". &In,. 01' ........ >CuIl .. H ....... (d. IN_) "IUCIO owed k. ori&Iro,o
"'", .in, . odine 01 tl>e ,,inIo<tiooI (d ....... , ... "" ... ).