Strong noun

Astrong nounis a phenomenon of moreconservativeGermanic languageslikeIcelandic,and also ofIrish,marked in each by case or number markings.

Icelandic

In theIcelandic language,a strong noun is one that falls into one of four categories, depending on the endings of thecharacteristic cases,i.e. the nominative and genitive singular and the nominative plural. For masculines this gives the following four-way split to be counted as strong:

The latter two cases end in-sand-ar.

The latter two cases end in-s or -arand-ir.

The latter two cases end in-arand-ir.

Irregular but not aweak noun.

For feminines this looks like:

The latter two cases end in-aror-rand-ar.

The latter two cases end in-arand-ir.

The latter two cases end in-aror-urand-uror-r.

Irregular but not aweak noun.

Most neuters are strong, and end in-sin the genitive singular with the exception offé,genitivefjár.Although strong neuters technically only belong to one category, it is a diverse group, so about a dozen paradigms are necessary to account for varieties and exceptions.

The weak neuters are so few, that a list suffices, to be found on the page forweak nouns.

Irish

In theIrish language,a strong noun is one in which a noun maintains the same form of the plural in all cases, especially both thenominativeandgenitiveplurals.

The strong-noun endings are-(a)í,-ta/-te,-the,-(e)acha,and(e)anna.Certain other nouns that take plain-aor-emay be strong if the nominative and genitive plural are the same. All nouns ending in vowels in Irish are considered strong.

See also

• Weak noun
• Icelandic language
• Irish language

Bibliography

• Björn Guðfinnsson (1958).Íslensk málfræði Námsgagnastofnun.