A Simplified Grammar of the Danish Language/Part I/Nouns

by E. C. Otté

NOUNS. (Navneord.)

Nouns are of two genders, the Common (Fælleskön), and the Neuter, (Intetkön); as, en Seng, e. g., 'a bed;' et Bord n., 'a table.'

Some nouns are used in the singular only; as, Forstand, e. g., 'understanding;' Guld, n., 'gold.' Others are used only in the plural; as, Forældre, 'parents;' Söskende, 'brothers and sisters.'

The plural of nouns are formed in various ways:—

1. By retaining the same form as the singular; as, et Dyr, 'an animal;' flere Dyr, 'various animals.'

2. By the addition of e to the singular; as, Dreng, e. g., 'boy.' pl. Drenge, 'boys.' Words ending in unaccentuated er, or dom, and those of one syllable, whose radical vowel does not change in the plural, generally also take this termination; as, Rytter, e. g., 'rider,' pl. Ryttere; Sygdom, e. g., 'sickness,' pl. Sygdomme; Hus, n., 'house,' pl. Huse.

3. By the addition of er. Under this head fall many nouns ending in a vowel; as, Træ, n., 'tree,' pl. Træer. Words of foreign origin, as General, 'General,' pl. Generaler, and words ending in ing, hed and skab; as,

Regning, 'reckoning,' pl. Regninger; Smukhed, e. g., 'beauty,' pl. Smukheder; Venskab, n., 'friendship,' pl. Venskaber. Words ending in e simply take r; as, Kone, e. g., 'woman,' pl. Koner; Menneske, n., 'creature,' pl. Mennesker.

4. By a change of the radical vowel; as, Mand, e. g., 'man,' pl. Mænd; Gås, e. g., 'goose,' pl. Gæs; Barn, n., 'child,' pl. Börn.

In some cases this change is associated with a transposition of the terminal letters; as, Fader, e. g., 'father,' pl. Fædre; Moder, e.g., 'mother,' pl. Mödre.

5. Nouns ending in el, en, or er often drop the penultimate e; as, Engel, e. g., 'angel,' pl. Engle; Lagen, e. g., 'sheet,' pl. Lagner; Ager, 'field,' pl. Agre.

6. Words having a double consonant reject one of these; as, Himmel, e. g., 'heaven,' pl. Himle; Middel, e. g., 'method,' pl. Middler; Datter, 'daughter,' pl. Dötre.

Words of one or more unaccentuated syllables, ending in a consonant, double the latter in the plural; as, Bal, e. g., 'ball,' pl. Baller; Sön, e.g., 'son,' pl. Sönner; Rigdom, e.g., 'riches', pl. Rigdomme.

The genitive is the only case which is marked by any special termination, this being made, as in English, by the addition of, s without an apostrophe, or es.

Nouns ending in any consonant except s or ks (x), and those ending in e, take s in the genitive; as Mand, e. g., 'man,' gen. Mands; Barn, n., 'child,' gen. Barns; Konerne, pl. 'the women,' gen. Konernes.

Nouns ending in s, ks (x), and in vowels, excepting e, take es in the genitive; as, Hus, n., 'house,' gen. Huses; By, e. g., 'town,' gen. Byes; Bro, e. g., 'bridge,' gen. Broes.

Although the common gender includes generally all words designating living beings,—as en Person, 'a person;' en Sanger, 'a singer;' en Hest, 'a horse,'—certain words which indicate a special class of beings without reference to sex are exceptions to this rule; as, et Barn, 'a child;' et Væsen, 'a creature;' Kvæg, n., 'cattle.'

The words Mandfolk, 'a male,' Fruentimmer, 'a female,' are neuter.

To the common gender belong, generally, the names of trees and flowers, and of special products of the vegetable world; as, en Bög, 'a beech;' en Rose, 'a rose;' en Blomme, 'a plum;' Te, e.g., 'tea;' Vin, e. g., 'wine;' Terpentin, e. g., 'turpentine.'

Definitions of distinct kinds, or parts, of plants are neuter; as, Træ, 'tree;' Blad, 'leaf;' Græs, 'grass;' Korn, 'corn.'

Words ending in e, de, hed, skab, dom, when they imply conditions and properties, are generally of the common gender; as, Varme, 'heat;' Höjde, 'height;' Dumhed, 'stupidity;' Ondskab, 'wickedness;' Manddom, 'manhood.' To the same gender belong, generally, words ending in ning, else, sel, st, en when they indicate some action, or active principle; as, Læsning, 'reading;' Styrelse, 'direction;' Færdsel, 'traffic;' Fangst, 'capture;' Löben, 'running.'

To the neuter gender belong, generally, names of places and metals; as, det store London; 'great London;' det stærke Jærn, 'strong iron.' To the neuter gender belong also words ending in eri, at, ium; as, Kranmmeri, 'trumpery;' Krat, 'thicket;' Kollegium, 'college.' And words derived from the infinitive of words by discarding the final e; as, et Skrig, 'a cry,' from at Skrige, 'to cry out.'

Some words are of uncertain gender; as, en, or et Telt, 'a tent;' en, or et Trold, 'a goblin.'

As a rule, it may be observed that in such cases of uncertainty the neuter gender is usually to be preferred.

Many words have a different meaning, in accordance with the special gender assigned to them; as, en Brud, 'a bride;' et Brud, 'a rupture,' 'a quarry.' The number of such words, of which we give examples in Part II., is very large.