The short stems (fręm-u) conform entirely to the declension of short ō-stems; long stems (cwēn, wyrt) differ from long ō-stems in having no ending for the A. singular. They show, also, a preference for -e rather than -a in the N.A. plural.
[49.]
Paradigms of sēo fręm-u, benefit; sēo cwēn, woman, queen [quean]; sēo wyrt, root [wort]:
| Sing. N. | fręm-u | cwēn | wyrt |
| G. | fręm-e | cwēn-e | wyrt-e |
| D.I. | fręm-e | cwēn-e | wyrt-e |
| A. | fręm-e | cwēn | wyrt |
| Plur N.A. | fręm-a | cwēn-e (a) | wyrt-e (a) |
| G. | fręm-a | cwēn-a | wyrt-a |
| D.I. | fręm-um | cwēn-um | wyrt-um |
The u-Declension.
[50.]
The u-Declension, corresponding to the group of u-stems in the classical Third Declension, contains no neuters, and but few (a) masculines and (b) feminines. The short-stemmed nouns of both genders (sun-u, dur-u) retain the final u of the N.A. singular, while the long stems (feld, hǫnd) drop it. The influence of the masculine a-stems is most clearly seen in the long-stemmed masculines of the u-Declension (feld, feld-es, etc.).
Note.—Note the general aversion of all O.E. long stems to final -u: cf. N.A. plural hof-u, but bearn, bān; N. singular gief-u, but wund, rōd; N. singular fręm-u, but cwēn, wyrt; N.A. singular sun-u, dur-u, but feld, hǫnd.