System of Declensions

The system of declension was inherited from PG. Adjectives had two declensions that had to do also with the category of determination – strong(definite) and weak (indefinite) – and unlike nouns practically all adjectives could be declined both ways (by strong and weak declension). So an adjective did not belong to a particular declension, its declension depended on several factors that will be mentioned below:

Type of Declension	Strong(definite)	Weak(indefinite)
Borrowed inflections	from a-stemando-stem	from n-stem
Factors for distinguishing type of declension	– Adj used attributively without any determiners (demonstrative pronouns); – Adj used predicatively.	– Adj preceded by a demonstrative pronoun or Genitive Case of a noun;
Gender	Neuter	Neuter
Number	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
OE Cases	Nominative	blind⁪	blind⁪	blinde	blindan
Genitive	blindes	blindra	blindan	blindra
Dative	blindum	blindum	blindan	blindum
Accusative	blind⁪	blind⁪	blinde	blindan
Instrumental	blinde	blindum	blindan	blindum
ME	Cases disappeared	blind⁪	blinde	blinde	blinde

There were exceptions from the rule: some adjectives were declined always strong (eall (all), maniζ (many), ōþer (other)), others – always weak (ilca (same)).

The endings of the adjectives showed the agreement between a noun and an adjective. There were a lot of homonymous forms (e.g. -um (OE) – N, Sg, Dat, strong; N, Pl, Dat, strong; N, Pl, Dat, weak; N, Pl, Instr, strong; N, Pl, Instr, weak; -e (ME) – N, Pl, strong; N, Sg, weak; N, Pl, weak) à the distinction between the declensions faded in ME and the declensions disappeared as far as there was no necessity any more to keep them.

Number

There were some homonymous forms in Singular and Plural in both declensions (see the table above: e.g. -um (OE) – N, Sg, Dat, strong; N, Pl, Dat, strong; -e (ME) – N, Sg, weak; N, Pl, weak), so the category of Number disappeared together with the system of declensions.

The Adjective lost many of its categories in ME as far as all the inflections were lost. Thus it became an unchangeable part of speech.

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