Old High German is an inflected language, and as such its nouns, pronouns, and adjectives must be declined in order to serve a grammatical function. A set of declined forms of the same word pattern is called a declension. There are five grammatical cases in Old High German.
A complete declension consists of five grammatical cases.
English grammars of Old High German often present the cases in the order NOM-ACC-GEN-DAT-INST.
Note: Declensions are named according to their form in Proto-Germanic. Often intervening sound changes render the once transparent stem endings opaque, and the name may no longer make much sense synchronically.
This declension has as counterparts the second declension (us/um) of Latin and the omicron declension (os/on) of Greek. It contains masculine and neuter nouns.
| tag; tagā (-a) day m. | wort; wort word n. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative, Accusative | tag | – | tagā (-a) | –ā (–a) | wort | – | wort | – | |
| Genitive | tages (-as) | –es (–as) | tago | –o | wortes (-as) | –es (–as) | worto | –o | |
| Dative | tage (-a) | –e (–a) | tagum (-om, -un, -on) | –um (–om, –un, –on) | worte (-a) | –e (–a) | wortum (-om, -un, -on) | –um (–om, –un, –on) | |
| Instrumental | tagu (-o) | –u (–o) | -- | -- | wortu (-o) | –u (–o) | -- | -- | |
Examples of masculine nouns declined like tag "day": bërg "mountain", wëg "way", geist "spirit", himil "heaven", tiufal "devil", kuning "king".Notes:
Examples of neuter nouns declined like wort: barn "child", sēr "pain", swërt "sword", honag "honey".Notes:
This declension was originally just the -a declension with an immediately preceding j. However, due to various sound laws, a new declension subcategory has arisen that does not exactly follow the form of the plain -a declension. Similar developments occurred in Greek and the Slavic languages, among others.
This declension has as counterparts the second declension nouns in (-ius/-ium) of Latin. The counterparts in Greek are some second declension nouns in (-ios/-ion), as well as many that show effects of palatalization (e.g., -zdos < *-gyos or *-dyos; -llos < *-lyos; -ptos < -*pyos; -ssos or -ttos < -*tyos; -airos/-eiros/-oiros < *-aryos/-eryos/-oryos; -ainos/-einos/-oinos < *-anyos/enyos/onyos; etc., and similarly for neuter nouns in -ion or *-yon). It contains masculine and neuter nouns.
| hirti; hirte / hirtā (-a) shepherd m. | kunni; kunni race n. | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||||
| Early | Late | Early | Late | Early | Late | Early | Late | ||||||||||
| Nominative, Accusative | hirti | –i | hirti | –i | hirte | –e | hirtā (-a) | –ā (–a) | kunni | -i | kunni | -i | kunni | -i | kunni | -i | |
| Genitive | hirtes | –es | hirtes | –es | hirteo (-io) | –eo (–io) | hirto | –o | kunnes | –es | kunnes | –es | kunneo (-io) | –eo (–io) | kunno | –o | |
| Dative | hirtie | –ie | hirte | –e | hirtum (-un, -on) | –um (–un, –on) | hirtim (-in) | –im (–in) | kunnie | –ie | kunne | –e | kunnum (-un, -on) | –um (–un, –on) | kunnim (-in) | –im (–in) | |
| Instrumental | hirtiu | –iu | hirtu (-o) | –u (–o) | -- | -- | -- | -- | kunniu | –iu | kunnu (-o) | –u (–o) | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
Sample nouns like hirti: agent nouns in -āri (-ari, -eri), e.g. wahtāri (-ari, -eri) "watchman", lērāri "teacher", scrībāri "writer, scribe"; also, karkāri "prison", altāri "altar", rucki "back", phuzzi, puzzi "well", kāsi "cheese".
Sample nouns like kunni: enti "end", rīhhi "kingdom", betti "bed", gizungi "language", finstarnessi "darkness", heri "army" (genitive singular heries, dative singular herie, herige).
| snēo, snē; snēwā (-a) snow m. | kneo; kneo knee n. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative, Accusative | snēo, snē | –o, – | snēwā (-a) | –wā (–wa) | kneo | –o, – | kneo | –o, – | |
| Genitive | snēwes | –wes | snēwo | –wo | knëwes | –wes | knëwo | –wo | |
| Dative | snēwe | –e | snēwum (–un, –on) | –um (–un, –on) | knëwe | –e | knëwum (–un, –on) | –um (–un, –on) | |
Notes:
Among the other nouns in this declension:
This declension counterparts the first declension (a) of Latin, and the alpha declension (a/as) of Greek. It contains feminine nouns. The nominative, which should have had the ending -u, has been merged with the accusative in -a.[2]
| gëba; gëbā gift f. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Nominative, Accusative | gëba | –a | gëbā | –ā | |
| Genitive | gëba (-u, -o) | –a (–u, –o) | gëbōnō | –ōnō | |
| Dative | gëbu (-o) | –u (–o) | gëbōm (-ōn, -on) | –ōm (–ōn, –on) | |
Sample nouns of this declension: gëba "gift", ërda "earth", ēra "honor", zala "number", triuwa "fidelity", corunga "temptation", hertida "hardness", miltida "compassion", gi-nāda "favor", lōsunga "deliverance", stunta "time".
| sunta; sunte, -eā (-iā) / suntā sin f. | kuningin; kuninginnā queen f. | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||||
| Early #1 | Early #2 | Late | Early #1 | Early #2 | Late | ||||||||||||
| Nominative, | sunte | –e | suntea (-ia) | –ea (–ia) | sunta | –a | sunte | –e | suntea (-ia) | –ea (–ia) | suntā | –ā | kuningin | –in | kuninginnā | –innā | |
| Accusative | sunte | –e | suntea (-ia) | –ea (–ia) | sunta | –a | sunte | –e | suntea (-ia) | –ea (–ia) | suntā | –ā | kuninginna (-in) | –inna (–in) | kuninginnā | –innā | |
| Genitive | sunte | –e | suntea (-ia) | –ea (–ia) | sunta (-u, -o) | –a (–u, –o) | sunteōno | –eōno | sunteōno | –eōno | suntōno | –ōno | kuninginna | –inna | kuninginnōno | –innōno | |
| Dative | suntiu | –iu | suntiu | –iu | suntu (-o) | –u (–o) | sunteōm | –eōm | sunteōm | –eōm | suntōm (-ōn) | –ōm (–ōn) | kuninginnu | –innu | kuninginnōm (-ōn) | –innōm (–innōn) | |
Sample nouns like sunta: hella "hell", sibba, sippa "peace", minna "love", krippa "manger".
Sample nouns like kuningin: forasagin "prophetess", friuntin "friend", burdin "burden".
This declension counterparts the vowel stems of the third declension (is) of Latin, and the third declension of Greek. It contains masculine and feminine nouns. Note that masculine nouns have become identical to -a stem nouns in the singular, while feminine nouns have preserved the original declension.
| gast; gesti guest m. | anst; ensti favor f. | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||||
| Early | Late | Early | Late | Early | Late | Early | Late | ||||||||||
| Nominative, Accusative | gast | – | gast | – | gesti | –i | gesti | –i | anst | – | ansti | – | ensti | –i | ensti | –i | |
| Genitive | gastes | –es | gastes | –es | gesteo (-io) | –eo (–io) | gesto | –o | ensti | –i | ensti | –i | ensteo (-io) | –eo (–io) | ensto | –o | |
| Dative | gaste | –e | gaste | –e | gestim (-in) | –im (–in) | gesten | –en | ansti | –i | ansti | –i | enstim (-in) | –im (–in) | ensten | –en | |
| Instrumental | gastiu (gestiu) | –iu | gastu | –u | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
This declension was much more reduced compared to other old Germanic languages such as Old English. Most nouns were transferred outright to the i- or sometimes the a-declension, and the remaining nouns were heavily influenced by the i-declension—only the nominative and accusative singular are different, ending in -u.
| situ; siti custom m. | fihu cattle n. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | |||||||||
| Early | Late | Early | Late | ||||||||
| Nominative, Accusative | situ | –u | situ | –u | siti | –i | siti | –i | fihu | –u | |
| Genitive | sites | –es | sites | –es | siteo (-io) | –eo (–io) | sito | –o | fihes | –es | |
| Dative | site | –e | site | –e | sitim (-in) | –im (–in) | siten | –en | fihe | –e | |
| Instrumental | sitiu (sitiu) | –iu | situ | –u | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
Notes:
This class consists of feminine abstract nouns and came about through the falling together of two declensions that were still different in Gothic: compare the Gothic -ei stems (a subclass of the weak declension, formed from adjectives, e.g. diupei "depth", genitive diupeins, from diups "deep") and -eins stems (a subclass of the i-declension, formed from Class I weak verbs, e.g. dáupeins "a dipping", genitive dáupeináis, from dáupjan "to dip").
| hōhī (hōhīn); hōhī (hōhīn) height f. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Nominative, Accusative | hōhī (hōhīn) | –ī (–īn) | hōhī (hōhīn) | –ī (–īn) | |
| Genitive | hōhī (hōhīn) | –ī (–īn) | hōhīno | –īno | |
| Dative | hōhī (hōhīn) | –ī (–īn) | hōhīm (hōhīn) | –īm (–īn) | |
| man; man man m. | naht; naht night f. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative, Accusative | man | – | man | – | naht | – | naht | – | |
| Genitive | mannes | –es | manno | –o | naht | – | nahto | –o | |
| Dative | man, manne | –, –e | mannum (-om, -un, -on) | –um (–om, –un, –on) | naht | – | nahtum (-un, -on) | –um (–un, –on) | |
This class was already falling apart in the earliest texts:
| fater; faterā (-a) father m. | muoter; muoter mother f. | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||||||||||||
| Early | Late | Early | Late | |||||||||||||
| Nominative, Accusative | fater | – | fater | – | faterā (-a) | –ā (–a) | faterā (-a) | –ā (–a) | muoter | – | muoter | – | ||||
| Genitive | fater | – | fateres | –es | fatero | –o | fatero | –o | muoter | – | muotero | –o | ||||
| Dative | fater | – | fatere | –e | faterum | –um | faterun (-on) | –un (–on) | muoter | – | muoterum (-un, -on) | –um (–un, –on) | ||||
| friunt; friunt, friuntā (-a) friend m. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Early | Late | ||||||
| Nominative, Accusative | friunt | – | friunt | – | friuntā (-a) | –ā (–a) | |
| Genitive | friuntes | –es | friunto | –o | friunto | –o | |
| Dative | friunte | –e | friuntum | –um | friuntun (-on) | –un (–on) | |
This declension has almost entirely merged with the a-declension. Only in early texts do the nominative and accusative plural have a separate, endingless form.
A large number of nouns belong to this declension, such as fīant "enemy", wīgant "warrior", and many others in -ant.
This class consists of neuter nouns and corresponds to Greek neuters in -os and Latin neuters in -us (genitive -eris, -oris). Formally, these nouns look like regular neuters except that a suffix -ir (from Proto-Germanic -iz-, from Proto-Indo-European -es-) is added to the stem in the plural and triggers umlaut. This class was massively expanded in Middle and Modern High German.
| lamb; lembir lamb n. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Early | Late | ||||||
| Nominative, Accusative | lamb | – | lembir | –ir | lembir | –ir | |
| Genitive | lambes | –es | lembiro | –iro | lembiro | –iro | |
| Dative | lambe | –e | lembirum (-irom) | –irum (–irom) | lembirun (-iron) | –irun (–iron) | |
| Instrumental | lambu (-o) | –u (–o) | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
A small number of nouns were declined according to this declension, among them lamb "lamb", kalb "calf", blat "leaf", and grab "grave".
| hano; hanon (-un) cock m. | hërza; hërzun (-on) heart n. | zunga; zungūn tongue f. | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||||
| Nominative | hano | –o | hanon (-un) | –on (–un) | hërza | –a | hërzun (-on) | –un (–on) | zunga | –a | zungūn | –ūn | |
| Accusative | hanon (-un) | –on (–un) | hanon (-un) | –on (–un) | hërza | –a | hërzun (-on) | –un (–on) | zungūn | –ūn | zungūn | –ūn | |
| Genitive | hanen (-in) | –en (–in) | hanōno | –ōno | hërzen (-in) | –en (–in) | hërzōno | –ōno | zungūn | –ūn | zungōno | –ōno | |
| Dative | hanen (-in) | –en (–in) | hanōm (-ōn) | –ōm (–ōn) | hërzen (-in) | –en (–in) | hërzōm (-ōn) | –ōm (–ōn) | zungūn | –ūn | zungōm (-ōn) | –ōm (–ōn) | |
Adjectives in Old High German, as in the other Germanic languages, can be declined according to two different paradigms, commonly called "strong" and "weak". This represents a significant innovation in Germanic, although a similar development has taken place in the Baltic and Slavic languages.
Adjectives in Proto-Indo-European—as is still the case in Latin, Greek, and most other daughters—are declined in exactly the same way as nouns. Germanic "strong" adjectives, however, take many of their endings from the declension of pronouns, while "weak" adjectives take the endings of -n stem nouns, regardless of the underlying stem class of the adjective.
In general, weak adjectival endings are used when the adjective is accompanied by a definite article, and strong endings are used in other situations. However, weak endings are occasionally used in the absence of a definite article, and cause the associated noun to have the same semantics as if a definite article were present. In addition, some adjectives are always declined weak or strong, regardless of any accompanying articles.
Strong adjectives are inflected according to a single paradigm, the a/ō-declension. Additional subclasses, the ja/jō- and wa/wō-declensions, differ only in the uninflected forms. Unlike in Gothic, no i-stem or u-stem adjectives exist any more.
| blint; blintēr, blintaẓ, blintiu blind | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||||||
| Nominative | blintēr, blint | –ēr, – | blintaẓ, blint | –aẓ, – | blintiu, blint | –iu, – | blinte (blint) | –e (–) | blintiu (blint) | –iu (–) | blinto (blint) | –o (–) | |
| Accusative | blintan | –an | blintaẓ, blint | –aẓ, – | blinta | –a | blinte | –e | blintiu | –iu | blinto | –o | |
| Genitive | blintes | –es | blintes | –es | blintera | –era | blintero | –ero | blintero | –ero | blintero | –ero | |
| Dative | blintemu (–emo) | –emu (–emo) | blintemu (–emo) | –emu (–emo) | blinteru (–ero) | –eru (–ero) | blintēm (–ēn) | –ēm (–ēn) | blintēm (–ēn) | –ēm (–ēn) | blintēm (–ēn) | –ēm (–ēn) | |
| Instrumental | blintu (–o) | –u (–o) | blintu (–o) | –u (–o) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
Note that an uninflected form optionally occurs in the nominative singular and plural of all genders, and in the accusative singular of the neuter. In the singular cases, either form can be used when the adjective is used attributively (blint man or blintēr man "blind man") or predicatively (dër man ist blintēr or dër man ist blint "the man is blind"). In the plural, the uninflected form can be used as an alternative to the inflected form only when used predicatively (die man sint blinte or die man sint blint "the men are blind"), but not attributively (only blinte man "blind men" can occur).
The existence of two forms of the adjective, one inflected and one uninflected, is for the most part an innovation of Old High German that is not present in the other Germanic languages. In Proto-Germanic, as still in Gothic and Old Saxon, only the neuter singular nominative and accusative had a dual form. In the other old Germanic languages, one or the other neuter form was generalized. The –ēr and –iu endings are also innovations specific to Old High German, based on the third-person personal pronouns. The inherited masculine ending would be – (compare Old English masculine nominative singular blind), and the ending corresponding to –iu would likely either be – or –a.
Adjectives of the ja/jō-declension differ from normal a/ō-declension adjectives only in the uninflected form, which ends with an -i. For example, scōni "beautiful" has masculine nominative singular scōnēr. Other examples of such adjectives are festi "fast", māri "famous", tiuri "dear", biderbi "useful", as well as present participles, such as bëranti "bearing".
Similarly to ja/jō-stem adjectives, adjectives of the wa/wō-declension differ from normal a/ō-declension adjectives only in the uninflected form, which ends with an -o, like the corresponding nouns. Unlike the ja/jō-stems, however, the -w- in the stem does appear in the inflected forms. Also like the corresponding nouns, if the stem ends in a consonant preceding the final -w, an epenthetic -a- usually develops in the inflected forms between the consonant and the -w. For example, garo "ready" has inflected nominative singular garawēr or sometimes garwēr, while fao, fō "little" has inflected nominative singular fawēr. Other examples of such adjectives are gëlo "yellow", zëso "right(-handed)", slēo, slē "dull", frao, frō "joyful", rao, rō "raw".
The weak declension for adjectives is identical to the corresponding weak declensions for masculine, neuter and feminine nouns.
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||||||
| Nominative | blinto | –o | blinta | –a | blinta | –a | blinton (-un) | –on (–un) | blinton (-un) | –on (–un) | blintūn | –ūn | |
| Accusative | blinton (-un) | –on (–un) | blinta | –a | blintūn | –ūn | blinton (-un) | –on (–un) | blinton (-un) | –on (–un) | blintūn | –ūn | |
| Genitive | blinten (-in) | –en (–in) | blinten (-in) | –en (–in) | blintūn | –ūn | blintōno | –ōno | blintōno | –ōno | blintōno | –ōno | |
| Dative | blinten (-in) | –en (–in) | blinten (-in) | –en (–in) | blintūn | –ūn | blintōm (-ōn) | –ōm (–ōn) | blintōm (-ōn) | –ōm (–ōn) | blintōm (-ōn) | –ōm (–ōn) | |
ja/jō-stem and wa/wō-stem adjectives have identical endings, along with the same stem forms as in the strong inflected forms. For example, scōni "beautiful" has weak masculine nominative singular scōno, while garo "ready" has weak masculine nominative singular gar(a)wo.
| Cardinal | Ordinal | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| one | ein | ēristo, furisto | |
| two | zwei | ander | |
| three | drī | dritto | |
| four | feor, fior | feordo, fiordo | |
| five | fimf, finf | fimfto, finfto | |
| six | sëhs | sëhsto | |
| seven | sibun | sibunto | |
| eight | ahto | ahtodo | |
| nine | niun | niunto | |
| ten | zëhan, zëhen | zëhanto | |
| eleven | einlif | einlifto | |
| twelve | zwelif | zwelifto | |
| thirteen | drīzëhan | drittozëhanto | |
| fourteen | fiorzëhan | fiordozëhanto | |
| fifteen | finfzëhan | finftazëhanto | |
| sixteen | sëhszëhan | sëhstazëhanto | |
| seventeen |
| sibuntozëhanto | |
| eighteen | ahtozëhan | ahtodazëhanto | |
| nineteen | niunzëhan | niuntazëhanto | |
| twenty | zweinzug | zweinzugōsto | |
| thirty | drīẓẓug, drīẓug | drīẓugōsto | |
| forty | fiorzug | fiorzugōsto | |
| fifty | finfzug | finfzugōsto | |
| sixty | sëhszug | sëhszugōsto | |
| seventy | sibunzug | sibunzugōsto | |
| eighty | ahtozug | ahtozugōsto | |
| ninety | niunzug | niunzugōsto | |
| hundred | zëhanzug, hunt | zëhanzugōsto | |
| two hundred | zwei hunt | ||
| thousand | thūsunt, dūsunt |
ein "one" is normally declined a strong adjective, but is declined as a weak adjective when meaning "alone".
zwei "two" and drī "three" decline as follows:
| zwēne; zwei; zwā (zwō) two | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||
| Nominative, Accusative | zwēne | zwei | zwā (zwō) | |
| Genitive | zweio | zweio | zweio | |
| Dative | zweim, zwein | zweim, zwein | zweim, zwein | |
| drī; driu; drīo three | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||
| Nominative, Accusative | drī | driu | drīo | |
| Genitive | drīo | drīo | drīo | |
| Dative | drim, drin | drim, drin | drim, drin | |
Cardinal numerals feor, fior "four" through zwelif "twelve" are indeclinable adjectives when standing before a noun, but after a noun or when used as a noun decline as follows (approximately, as i-stems):
| sëhsi; sëhsiu, sëhsu six | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine/Feminine | Neuter | ||||||||
| Early | Late | Early | Late | ||||||
| Nominative, Accusative | sëhsi | –i | sëhsi | –i | sëhsiu | –iu | sëhsu | –u | |
| Genitive | sëhseo | –eo | sëhso | –o | sëhseo | –eo | sëhso | –o | |
| Dative | sëhsim | –im | sëhsin | –in | sëhsim | –im | sëhsin | –in | |
Cardinal numerals zweinzug "20" through zëhanzug "100" are indeclinable nouns, with an associated noun in the genitive plural. hunt "100" presumably behaves like zëhanzug. dūsunt, thūsunt "1000" is mostly treated as a feminine noun, but sometimes as a neuter noun.
The ordinal ander "second" (inflected as anderēr, anderaẓ, anderiu) follows the strong adjectival declension, while the remaining ordinals follow the weak declension.
Other numeral forms:
| Case | ih; wir I; we | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| Nominative | ih | wir | |
| Accusative | mih | unsih | |
| Genitive | mīn | unsēr | |
| Dative | mir | uns | |
| Case | dū, du; ir you | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| Nominative | dū, du | ir | |
| Accusative | dih | iuwih | |
| Genitive | dīn | iuwēr | |
| Dative | dir | iu | |
| Case | ër; iẓ; siu; etc. he; it; she; they | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||
| Nominative | ër | iẓ | siu; sī, si | sie | siu | sio | |
| Accusative | inan, in | iẓ | sia (sie) | sie | siu | sio | |
| Genitive | (sīn) | is, ës | ira (iru, iro) | iro | iro | iro | |
| Dative | imu, imo | imu, imo | iru, iro | im, in | im, in | im, in | |
| Case | sih oneself | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| Nominative | -- | -- | |
| Accusative | sih | sih | |
| Genitive | sīn (ira) | (iro) | |
| Dative | (imu, iru) | (im) | |
First and second person possessive pronouns are based on the genitive case of the corresponding personal pronouns, and are declined strong: first person mīnēr, unserēr (or unsarēr), second person dīnēr, iuwerēr (or iuwarēr). The third person possessive pronoun is undeclined for case:
In Franconian, shortened forms of unsēr and iuwēr exist, e.g.:
| Case | unsēr; unsaẓ; unsu our | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||
| Nominative | unsēr | unsaẓ | unsu | unse | unsu | unso | |
| Accusative | unsan | unsaẓ | unsa | unse | unsu | unso | |
| Genitive | unses | unses | unsera | unsero | unsero | unsero | |
| Dative | unsemo | unsemo | unseru | unsēm, unsen | unsēm, unsen | unsēm, unsen | |
| Case | dër; daẓ; diu the | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||
| Nominative | dër | daẓ | diu | dē, dea, dia, die | diu, (dei) | deo, dio | |
| Accusative | dën | daẓ | dea, dia (die) | dē, dea, dia, die | diu, (dei) | deo, dio | |
| Genitive | dës | dës | dëra, (dëru, dëro) | dëro | dëro | dëro | |
| Dative | dëmu, dëmo | dëmu, dëmo | dëru, dëro | dēm, dēn | dēm, dēn | dēm, dēn | |
| Instrumental | diu | diu | – | – | – | – | |
In the Franconian dialects:
| dëse, dësēr; diz; dësiu, disiu (thisu); etc. this; these | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||
| Nominative | dëse, dësēr | diz | dësiu, disiu (thisu) | dëse | dësiu, disiu (thisu) | dëso | |
| Accusative | dësan | diz | dësa | dëse | dësiu, disiu (thisu) | dëso | |
| Genitive | dësses | dësses | dësera | dësero | dësero | dësero | |
| Dative | dësemu, dësemo | dësemu, dësemo | dëseru | dësēm, dësen | dësēm, dësen | dësēm, dësen | |
| Instrumental | dësiu, dësu; disiu, disu | dësiu, dësu; disiu, disu | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| (h)wër; (h)waẓ who, what, which | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | |||
| Masculine/Feminine | Neuter | ||
| Nominative | (h)wër | (h)waẓ | |
| Accusative | (h)wënan, wën | (h)waẓ | |
| Genitive | (h)wës | (h)wës | |
| Dative | hwëmu, wëmo | hwëmu, wëmo | |
| Instrumental | (h)wiu, hiu | (h)wiu, hiu | |
Notes:
Additional interrogatives:
All were declined as strong adjectives.
Old High German had a number of indefinite pronominal forms.
The following were declined as strong adjectives:
The following were declined according to the interrogative-pronoun declension:
The following were declined as nouns: