Old English Morphology Basics
This term describes the highly inflectional, synthetic nature of Old English grammar.
Synthetic and inflectional morphology.
Old English adjectives agreed with nouns in these three grammatical categories.
case, number, and gender
This suffix was commonly used to form OE adverbs from adjectives.
-e
OE used this system—not word order—to identify direct and indirect objects.
morphological case marking
This case marks the receiver of an action, especially in verbs of giving or speaking.
the dative case
Old English inherited its case and gender system from this proto-language.
Proto-Germanic
This declension is used when the adjective has an indefinite meaning.
the strong declension (“a good man”)
This suffix originally meant “with body/form” before becoming a general adverb marker.
-līce?
This case marks the direct object in Old English.
the accusative case
The dative is used for this type of semantic role in psychological constructions.
experiencer (dative experiencer)
These three grammatical genders existed in Old English nouns.
masculine, feminine, and neuter
Weak adjectives typically follow these elements, which make the noun definite.
demonstratives and possessives
Many adverbs developed from these case forms, especially expressing time and quantity.
genitive singular endings
This case occasionally functions as an object case for verbs of desire, necessity, or quantity.
the genitive case
Many OE prepositions required nouns to appear in this case.
the dative case
These two numbers existed in Old English morphology.
singular and plural
Because OE word order was flexible, this feature of adjectives was essential.
full agreement with the noun
This category of OE adverbs was inherited directly from Proto-Germanic.
primary adverbs
Because OE relied on case endings, objects could appear in this flexible syntactic position.
What is before, after, or far from the verb
This case, while mainly marking possession, sometimes marked objects of specific verbs.
the genitive case
These four OE cases marked subject, object, possession, and indirect object.
nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative
Adjective morphology helped show these grammatical roles, improving semantic precision.
subject, direct object, indirect object, and possessive structures
OE adverb formation was guided by these predictable rules instead of memorized lists.
morphological patterns
Over time, adverbs lost their original inflections through this linguistic process.
grammaticalization
Dative and genitive endings enhanced OE syntax by providing this type of clarity.
morphological clarity