History of Polish - Changes in Grammar - Declension - Nouns

Nouns

The declension of nouns has become simpler. Now it depends on the gender of a noun (smok, o smoku – foka, o foce) (a dragon, about a dragon - a seal, about a seal) and to some extend on the hardness of a noun's stem (liść, liście – list, listy)(leaf - leaves, letter - letters). Two categories have appeared in the masculine gender: the category of animacy and of personhood (but, widzę but, widzę buty – kot, widzę kota, widzę koty – pilot, widzę pilota, widzę pilotów) (a shoe, I see a shoe, I see shoes - a cat, I see a cat, I see cats - a pilot, I see a pilot, I see pilots).

Traces of consonant stems still remain but almost exclusively in neuter noun stems ending in -en, -ent- (cielę – cielęcia, imię – imienia) (a calf - of a calf, a name - of a name). For all other stems, long or short form has become characteristic of all cases. In general, in the past endings characteristic of stems ending in -o-, -jo- and -a-, -ja- were most common. Other endings were disappearing. The endings which did not cause the alteration of the stem were becoming more popular. Traces of the lack of softness in some forms of words softened by front vowels (mainly forms ending with a consonant or ending with -i-, egz. krъvaxъ > *krwach > krwiach) have disappeared. Often softness is the only remnant of old noun endings (Gen. kamane > kamienia) (of stone).