(4) For the simplification of final scs, sts to cs, ts, see § [78], 2: ✱bŭscus? ＞ bǫcs, trīstes ＞ tritz.
(5) For the history of -arius and -tōrius, see § [23], 1 and § [73], Ry, 1.
93. (1) Nouns whose objective singular ended in s were invariable in the earlier part of the literary period; bracchium ＞ bratz, cŏrpus ＞ cǫrs, imperatrīcem ＞ emperairitz, fascem ＞ fais, latus ＞ latz, lūcem ＞ lütz, mĭssum ＞ mẹs, nasum ＞ nas, ŏpus ＞ ǫps, ŭrsum ＞ ọrs, pĭscem ＞ pẹis, pĕctus ＞ pęitz, prĕtium ＞ prętz, tĕmpus ＞ tems, vĕrsum ＞ vęrs, vīsum ＞ vis, vōcem ＞ vọtz. Later, however, a plural (originally obj. pl.) was made for such words by adding -es, generally at a time when final ts had been reduced to s (§ [64]): brasses, cǫrses, mẹsses, pẹisses, vęrses; examples occur as early as the end of the 12th century.
(2) Other invariable nouns are midons, sidons, and often laus and rẹs; the last two sometimes have an objective lau, rẹ. Midons comes from the Church Latin mī dŏmĭne, which was popularized by the substitution of the Provençal don for dŏmĭne and the addition of the nom. -s; the term was transferred from religious to feudal, and thence to amatory use, and came to mean ‘my lady.’ Mi domina was common in Church Latin. Sidons is formed on the model of midons.
(3) For nouns in tš, see § [63], (1): ✱disdūctum ＞ desdüg, frūctum ＞ früch, gaudium ＞ gaug, nŏctem ＞ nuech. Such words were very often written in the plural with -gz, which was pronounced either ts or tš. The pronunciation ts is attested by such rhymes as malfagz: alumenatz.
94. Infinitives used substantively conformed to the 2d declension type: lauzars lauzar (like fǫcs fǫc), rire-s rire (like fabre-s fabre): see § [96]. The same thing is true of masculine post-verbal nouns: (getar) gętz gęt, (guidar) guitz guit, (lansar) lans (invariable).
First Declension.
95. This declension came to include a part of the fifth and also some neuter plurals of the second and third. With the exception of dia (nearly always masculine) and of a few learned words, it contained only feminine nouns. As the nominative, accusative, and ablative singular early became identical, leaving only one form in the singular, the plural forms were reduced to one, the accusative crowding out the nominative; this substitution, which must have been begun before the Provençal period, was doubtless helped by the identity of nominative and accusative plural in feminine nouns of the third declension. Causa will serve as a model:—
| causa | ＞ causa |
| causam | ＞ causa |
| causæ ✱causas | ＞ causas |
| causas | ＞ causas |
1. Dia sometimes has a nom. sg. dias, following the example of other masculine nouns.