(1) as-plurals.
| SINGULAR. | PLURAL. | ||
| Nom[[3]]. | stān (stone). | Nom. | stān-as. |
| Dat. | stān-e. | Dat. | stān-um. |
| Gen. | stān-es. | Gen. | stān-a. |
So also dǣl (part), cyning (king), ċildhād (childhood).
dæġ (day) changes its vowel in the pl. (p. [5]):—dæġ, dæġe, dæġes; dagas, dagum, daga.
Nouns in -e have nom. and dat. sing. the same:—ęnde, (end), ęnde, ęndes; ęndas, ęndum, ęnda.
Nouns in -el, -ol, -um, -en, -on, -er, -or often contract:—ęnġel (angel), ęnġle, ęnġles; ęnġlas, ęnġlum, ęnġla. So also næġel (nail), þeġen (thane), ealdor (prince). Others, such as æcer (field), do not contract.
h after a consonant is dropped in inflection (p. [7]), as in feorh (life), fēore, fēores. So also in Wealh (Welshman), plur. Wēalas.
There are other classes which are represented only by a few nouns each.
(2) e-plurals.
A few nouns which occur only in the plur.:—lēode (people), lēodum, lēoda. So also several names of nations:—Ęnġle (English), Dęne (Danes); Seaxe (Saxons), Mierċe (Mercians), have gen. plur. Seaxna, Mierċna.