(b) Like künne is also declined the old neuter u-stem vihe (OHG. fihu), cattle.
(c) Like knie are declined mël, meal, rē (also masc.), corpse, smër, fat, strō, straw, tou, dew, wē, woe, gen. mëlwes, rēwes, smërwes, strōwes, touwes, wēwes, see [§ 36].
[§ 47.] Second declension.—To this declension belong all neuter nouns which form their plural in -er and by umlaut of the stem-vowel when it is capable of it. This class of nouns corresponds to the Latin neuters in -us, as genus, gen. generis, pl. genera. The -er (OHG. -ir) was originally a stem-forming suffix which came to be regarded as a plural ending. In the oldest period of the language only about half-a-dozen nouns belonged to this class, but during the MHG. period nearly twenty neuter a-stems passed into this declension, and in NHG. the number has increased to about a hundred.
| Sing. | Plur. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MHG. | OHG. | MHG. | OHG. | |
| Nom. Acc. | lamp | lamb, lamb | lember | lembir |
| Gen. | lambes | lambes | lember | lembiro |
| Dat. | lambe | lambe | lembern | lembirum |
On the loss of the e in the gen. and dat. plural, see [§ 9, 2].
Other examples are: ei (pl. eiger, eijer, eier, § 35), egg, huon, hen, kalp, calf, rat, wheel, rint, bullock, tal, dale.
3. Feminine Nouns.
[§ 48.] First declension.—To this declension belong all feminine nouns having their nominative case singular and plural alike. It includes: (a) the old feminine ō-stems, as gëbe, gift, sēle, soul, zal, number; (b) the old feminine jō-stems, as küneginne, künegin, künegīn, queen, and similarly vriundinne, friend, gütinne, goddess; (c) the old feminine wō-stems with and without w, as brāwe, brā, brow, pl. brā beside weak pl. brāwen; diuwe, diu, servant; (d) the old feminine abstract nouns in -ī, as vinster (OHG. finstrī), darkness, schœne (OHG. scōnī), beauty; and (e) the old consonant stem, swester, swëster, sister.
| Sing. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Acc. | gëbe | zal | vinster |
| Gen. | gëbe | zal | vinster |
| Dat. | gëbe | zal | vinster |
| Plur. | |||
| Nom. Acc. | gëbe | zal | vinster |
| Gen. | gëben | zaln | vinstern |
| Dat. | gëben | zaln | vinstern |
On the endings in nouns declined like zal, number, dol, pain, wal, choice, nar, food, schar, flock, and vinster, see § [9, 1, 2].