334 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



LESSONS IN GE KM AN. LIT. 



14. THE NEW DECLENSION. 

 TERMINATIONS. 



Singular. Plural. 



Nom. -. -en or n. 



Gen. -en or n. -en or n. 



Dat. -en or n. -en or n. 



Ace. -en or n. -en or n. 



NOTE. When the singular ends in c, ct, or ev, the plural 

 takes n only. 



EXAMPLES. 



Singular. 



Nom. Dcr @raf, the count. 

 Gen. DeS rafen, of the count. 

 Dat. Dem rafen, to the count. 

 Ace. Den rafen, the count. 



Nom. Dcr gaffe, the falcon. 



Gen. DcS Stiffen, of the falcon. 



Dat. Dem galfen, to the falcon. 



Ace. I)en galfen, the falcon. 



Plural. 



Die rafen, the counts. 

 Dcr rafen, of the counts. 

 Den rafen, to or for the counts. 

 Die rafen, the counts. 



Die gatfen, the falcons. 

 Dct galfen, of the falcons. 

 Den galfcn, to the falcons. 

 Die gaffcn, the falcons. 



(I.) Feminine nouns which are indeclinable in the singular, 

 are, for the most part, of this declension. Those ending in the 

 suffix t n in the singular, double the n in the plural. 



EXAMPLES. 



Singular. 



Nom. Die rfmtt, the debt. 

 Gen. Der cfyult, of the debt. 

 Dat. Der (acquit, to the debt. 

 Ace. Die ctyulb, the debt. 



Plural. 



Die ctyultcn, the debts. 

 Dcr d;ultcn, of the debts. 

 Den clntftcn, to the debts. 

 Die cfjulten, the debts. 



Nom. Die ^irtin, the shep- Die -irtinncn, the shepherdesses. 



herdess. 



Gen. Der irtin, of the shep- Dcr J&irtinncn, of the shep- 



herdess. herdesses. 



Dat. Der Jjirtin, to the shep- Den irtinncn, to the shep- 



herdess. herdesses. 



Ace. Die ^irtin, the shep- Die -fcirtinncn, the shepherdesses. 



herdess. 



QJI utter, mother, and $ center, daughter, are in the plural 

 Gutter and S.t<d)tcr. They add n to the dative. 



Feminine nouns were originally in the singular declined ac- 

 cording to the New Declension. These old inflected forms are 

 still preserved in certain phrases. Thus : mit or in G'f;rcn, with 

 or in respect or honour -(i'fyren, from 6l)re ; auf rtcn, on earth 

 Srten, from d'rte ; mit grcutcn, with joy greutcn, from Srcute ; 

 locn or auf citcn, on the part of Sciten, from cite ; mcincr graucn 

 r, my wife's sister. 



. 15. OBSERVATIONS ON THE DECLENSION OF COMMON 



NOUNS. 

 (1.) Some have no singular, as in the following list : 



2lettern (Item), pa- 



rents. 



2lhnen, ancestors. 

 ?t(pen, alps. 

 23cinflcitcr, small 



clothes. 



Slattern, smallpox. 

 Srteffctyaften, letters, 



papers. 



Gtnfunftc, revenue. 

 gaflen, Lent, fasts. 

 gerien, holidays. 



gufiflapfen, footsteps. 

 cbnitcr, brothers. 

 efdjmijlcr, brothers 



and sisters. 

 lietmajjen, the limbs. 

 antcf, quarrels. 

 <$ofen, trousers. 

 Snfigntcn, marks, 



badges. 

 floflen and Unfoflen, 



costs. 

 I geute, people, folks. 



SDkfern and 9let$eln, 



measles. 

 2Mfcn, whey. 

 Oftcrn, Easter. 

 5Sjuia.ftcn, Whitsun- 



tide. 



OJanfe, tricks. 

 Ilicpreffalicn, reprisals. 

 Sr.iber or Xreber, 



husks, less. 

 5rummcr, ruins. 

 2I>emad;ten,Christinas 



NOTE. Scute merely expresses plurality of persons. In this 

 it differs from -KenfcfKn (human beings), which has regard to the 

 kind or species, as also from -Kilnncr (men), which denotes parti- 

 cularly the sex. Those compounds, however, of which, in the 

 singular, DJJann forms the last part, take generally, i:i the plural, 

 V'eute instead of SDMnner ; thus : 



Singular. 



2lrbciMmann, workman. 

 Grtelmann, nobleman. 

 JJaufmann, merchant. 

 Sanbmann, countryman. 



Plural. 



2lrbeitMcute, workpeople. 

 Steffcutc, noblemen. 

 flaufTeutc, merchants. 

 Sanbleute, country neople. 



The distinctive difference between Scute and banner may be 

 forcibly shown by reference to the words Sfyeleute and (f;cmanncr : 

 (Sfycleutc means married people ; tefycmanner signifies married men, 

 i.e., husbands. 



(2.) Some have no plural, according to the following heads: 



a. Generic names of material substances ; as : Da? clt, 

 gold ; ifhr, silver ; Sifen, iron, etc. 



b. General terms and those expressive of abstract ideas; as: 

 Siaub, pillage ; Slufym, glory; tag SSicf), cattle; SJcrr.unft, reason; 

 tolj, pride ; Jfalte, cold, etc. 



c. Some names of plants ; as : Dcr JM;1, the cabbage ; 'pcpfen, 

 hops; Jtreffe, cresses, etc. 



d. All infinitives employed as nouns, as also all neuter adjec- 

 tives so employed; as: I'ebcn, life; Scrlangcn, wish; baS SEUcip, 

 white, etc. 



e. Nouns denoting quantity, number, weight, or measure ; 

 as: SSunt, bundle; Du(jcnt>, dozen; rat, degree; 5pfunt, pound; 

 3cK, an inch, etc. 



Thus, in German, we say, ncun Jtfnftcr, nine fathoms ; f;untert 

 rab, a hundred degrees, etc. Feminmcs ending in e and words 

 denoting periods of time, as also the names of coins, are, in 

 general, excepted from this rule. 



(3.) Some, in the plural, have two forms ; conveying, in gene- 

 ral, different, though kindred significations ; as in the following 

 examples : 

 Singular. Plural. 



DaS SBanb, fflante, bonds, fetters. 



Die S3anf, S3anfe, benches. 



Dcr 93ogen, 33ogen, sheets of paper. 



DaS Ding, Dinjje, things in general. 



Dcr Dem, Dorneu, thorn-bushes. 



Dcr gup, gii&e, feet. 



DaS cfic^t cficljte, visions, sights. 



Da8 -5rrn, J&crne, sorts of horn. 



Der traug, traupe, nosegays. 



Da8 2Bort, 28 ertcr, words unconnected 



(as in a dictionary). 

 Der 30K, 3olte, inches. 



SSantcr, ribbons. 



Sanfen, banks of com- 

 merce. 



SSoijcn, arches, bows. 



Dinger, little creatures. 



Derncr, thorns (more than 

 one). 



gape, feet (as measurec). 



cficfjtcr, faces. 



-Werner, horns (more than 

 one). 



Sofjcr, pieces of wood. 



Satcn, shops. 



Santcr, states. 



QJJannen, vassals. 



2)Jentc, planets. 



Ocrtcr, places (particular). 



Sue, swine. 



cfynurcn, daughters-in- 

 law. 



Straupcu, ostriches. 



SBortc, words (in a sen- 

 tence). 



3e((e, tolls. 



16. FOREIGN NOUNS. 



(1.) Some nouns introduced from foreign languages retain 

 their original terminations ; as: Dcr -KctiaiS, a physician; plur. 

 aJletici, physicians ; gactum, deed ; gacta, deeds. 



(2.) Some masculines and neuters from the French and the 

 English merely affix 6 to the genitive singular, which is retained 

 in all the cases of the plural ; as, nom. tcr Sort, the lord; gen. 

 tc3 i>rt8, of the lord ; plur. tie Sorts, the lords, etc. ; tcr (5f)ef, the 

 chief ; gen. bc<5 @';cfg, of the chief ; plur. tie SfyefS, the chiefs, etc. 



17. FOEEIGN NOUNS OF THE OLD DECLENSION. 



(1.) Foreign nouns of the neuter gender, as also most of the 

 masculines, are of the Old Declension. 



(2.) Among the masculines must be noted those appellations 

 of persons ending in the following terminations : 



al ; as, .ffarbinal, cardinal, 

 ar; as, Sftetar, notary, 

 an; as, JtaftcUan, castellan. 



To which may be added 2lbt, abbot ; SPropft, provost ; 

 pope; 33ifd;pf, bishop ; Siirgermeifler, mayor; pion, spy; patron, 

 patron ; Offtjier, officer. 



(3.) Some have, in the plural, the form cr (e + r) ; as : o8pt 

 tal, hospital ; pttat, hospital ; tfamifol, waistcoat ; Stc^tment, regi- 

 ment ; plur. -Segpitaler, hospitals ; pitaler, hospitals, eto. 



