97. This declension absorbed a part of the fifth: cf. § [90].

98. Nouns whose stem was different in the nominative and the accusative singular, reconstructed the nominative to correspond to the accusative, the new form being similar to the original genitive: papĭlio papiliōnem ＞ papiliōnis papiliōnem, pēs pĕdem ＞ pĕdis pĕdem. The change began in the Vulgar Latin period. Exceptions to the rule are names of persons, unless they ended in -ans or -ens: nĕpos nepōtem ＞ nęps nebọt; but amans amantem ＞ ✱amantis amantem ＞ amáns amán.

1. Carnis for caro is used by classic writers. Grūis for grūs occurs in the Appendix Probi III, belonging perhaps to the 3d century. Papiliōnis, pĕdis, travis = trabs, and some others are found in the 8th century Glossary of Reichenau.

99. Masculine nouns of the third declension, early in the Provençal period, made their nominative plural conform to the second declension type, thus distinguishing it from the objective plural: pater patrem patres patres ＞ paire paire paire paires (cf. Old French and Italian). Feminines, on the other hand, kept the nominative plural in -s: mater matrem matres matres ＞ maire maire maires maires.

100. A few neuter nouns, becoming masculine in Vulgar Latin, developed distinctively masculine forms in the singular: gĕnus gĕnus ＞ ✱gĕneris ✱gĕnĕrem ＞ genres genre; so fŭlgur (＞ fŭlger) ＞ ✱fŭlgĕrem ＞ fọuzer. Most neuters, however, kept in the singular their original stem: sēmen ＞ sẹm, tĕmpus ＞ tems. But those in -men regularly, and those in -r sometimes, took an -s in the nominative singular: flūmen flūmen ＞ flüms flüm, marmor marmor ＞ marme-s marme; cǫr, in the literary language, usually has no nominative -s. In the plural most neuters brought their forms into harmony with the masculine type, but those in -us kept the -s throughout: (caput >) capus ✱capum capĭta capĭta ＞ caps cap cap caps, cŏr cŏr cŏrda cŏrda ＞ cǫr cǫr cǫr cǫrs, nōmen nōmen nōmĭna nōmĭna ＞ nọms nọm nọm nọms; but cŏrpus cŏrpus cŏrpŏra cŏrpŏra ＞ cǫrs cǫrs cǫrs cǫrs. Mare, becoming feminine, was declined thus: mars mar mars mars.

1. Gĕnus also became ges, which was used as an adverb.

101. The third declension comprises three principal types: (1) nouns which in Latin had no difference of stem or of accent between the nominative and the accusative singular; (2) those which had a difference of stem but not of accent; (3) those which had a difference of accent.

(1) Nouns with no difference of stem or of accent:—

MASCULINE
canis＞ caspater＞ paire-ssōl＞ sọ-s
canem＞ capatrem＞ pairesōlem＞ sọ
canes＞ capatres＞ pairesōles＞ sọl
canes＞ caspatres＞ pairessōles＞ sọls
FEMININE
fīnis[84]＞ fismater＞ mairefĭdes＞ fẹs
fīnem＞ fimatrem＞ mairefĭdem＞ fẹ
fīnes＞ fismatres＞ mairesfĭdes＞ fẹs
fīnes＞ fismatres＞ mairesfĭdes＞ fẹs