Nouns
Middle English Grammar 1
Chapter 2 · Nouns
📜 Nouns
Old English nouns had three genders and several cases, each with its own endings. Middle English nouns have two main patterns and little else. This chapter shows what is left and how it works. It uses the Nouns subsection of Wikipedia's Middle English article, and where that article does not say something, the chapter says so. For the Old English system this one wore down, see Old English Grammar 1, Chapters 2 to 4.
Two patterns
| Pattern | Plural | Where it came from (per the article) | Survives today as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strong | -(e)s | Strong nouns come from the other Old English noun stem classes | The ordinary -s plural |
| Weak | -(e)n | Weak nouns mainly come from Old English n-stem nouns, and also from ō-, wō- and u-stem nouns that joined the weak declension | oxen, and double plurals such as children and brethren |
- Mixed forms. Some strong nouns take -e in the nominative and accusative singular, as weak nouns do, but otherwise keep strong endings.
- Other survivals. The article lists eyen (eyes), shoon (shoes), hosen (hose), kine (cows) and been (bees) as dialect survivals of older plurals.
- What the article does not say. Its Nouns section does not discuss vowel-change plurals such as feet and men (it mentions vowel change only for strong verbs) and does not mention plurals with no ending. Do not infer that they were absent; the article is silent.
The genitive
| Type | Ending | Example given |
|---|---|---|
| Strong | -es (by the end of the period the only ending in use; spelled variously) | |
| Some formerly feminine nouns and some weak nouns | -e or no ending | fole hoves (horses' hooves) |
| Relationship nouns in -er | Often no ending | fader bone ("father's bane") |
So the Modern English possessive 's descends from the strong genitive -es. The article's wording is that by the end of the period only the strong -'s ending, spelled in various ways, was in use; I take no further steps beyond what it says. Old English Grammar 1 also treats the genitive.
Case and gender
- Dative. The distinct dative case was lost in early Middle English. The article's table lists dative -e in the singular and -e(s) in the plural, but the prose does not discuss them as survivals, so I show them only as the table's listing.
- Gender. Grammatical gender survived to a limited extent in early Middle English, then was replaced by natural gender over the period. The article shows it in the agreement of articles and pronouns (þo ule, "the owl" as a feminine noun), in he used for masculine nouns such as helm, and in adjective endings such as -ne.
Dialects
The Nouns section does not describe regional differences in noun endings beyond the survivals listed above. The article describes dialect differences in the Verbs section (for example in plural verb endings), which a later chapter covers. So here I can show only that the noun system itself is given as two patterns for the language as a whole, and I do not invent dialect forms. Chaucer's London English can be assumed to follow the main patterns, but the article's noun section does not say so, so I do not claim it as the article's statement.
In use
The article's own examples, with my glosses:
| Middle English | Gloss | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| fole hoves | horses' hooves | A genitive with no -s, on a noun that was formerly feminine or weak |
| fader bone | father's bane | A relationship noun in -er with no genitive ending |
| þo ule | the owl (feminine) | Grammatical gender in the article þo |
Words to know
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Strong noun | A noun with the -(e)s plural and -es genitive pattern |
| Weak noun | A noun with the -(e)n plural pattern, from Old English n-stems |
| Genitive | The case that shows possession or relation |
| Dative | The case of the indirect object, lost in early Middle English |
| Grammatical gender | Gender assigned to nouns by form, not meaning |
| Natural gender | Gender that follows the real sex of what is named |
✏️ Try It Yourself
Think of the answer first, then click to check.
1. How many noun-ending patterns does the article say Middle English retains?
Show answer
Two: strong and weak.
2. What is the strong plural, and what is the weak plural?
Show answer
Strong -(e)s; weak -(e)n.
3. Which Old English noun class does the weak pattern mainly come from?
Show answer
The n-stems (with some ō-, wō- and u-stems joining it).
4. Name a Modern English plural that keeps the weak pattern.
Show answer
Oxen; also the double plurals children and brethren.
5. What is the strong genitive ending?
Show answer
-es; by the end of the period it was the only ending in use.
6. Why does fader bone have no -s?
Show answer
Relationship nouns in -er often have no genitive ending, per the article.
7. What happened to the dative case?
Show answer
The distinct dative was lost in early Middle English.
8. What replaced grammatical gender, and where did it show?
Show answer
Natural gender; in early Middle English gender showed in the agreement of articles and pronouns, in he for masculine nouns such as helm, and in adjective endings such as -ne.
9. What does the article's Nouns section not say about vowel-change plurals?
Show answer
It does not discuss them (it mentions vowel change only for strong verbs), so the chapter makes no claim about them.
10. Why are no dialect noun forms given in this chapter?
Show answer
The article's Nouns section describes no regional differences beyond a few survivals; dialect differences appear in its Verbs section.