Nouns
Lithuanian nouns have five declensions which are defined by the inflection in singular nominative and genitive cases. Only few borrowed words, like taksì – taxi, tabù – taboo, kupė̃ – compartment (in a train), coupé, are not subject to declension rules.
| Inflection in singular cases | Examples | Notes | ||||
| Nominative | Genitive | Nominative | Genitive | Meaning | ||
| I | -as, -is, -ys, -ias | -o | výras mẽdis traukinỹs svẽčias |
výro mẽdžio tráukinio svẽčio |
man, male; husband tree train guest |
Main pattern for masculine nouns |
| II | -a, -i¹, -ė | -os, -ės | žmonà šviesà várna pradžià sáulė |
žmonõs šviesõs várnos pradžiõs sáulės |
wife light crow beginning sun |
Main pattern for feminine nouns; few masculine |
| III | -is² | -ies | móteris³ f pilìs f avìs f dantìs m |
móteries piliẽs aviẽs dantiẽs |
woman, female castle sheep tooth |
Rarer, feminine nouns, fewer masculine |
| IV | -us | -aus | žmogùs sūnùs medùs skaĩčius |
žmogaũs sūnaũs medaũs skaĩčiaus |
man (human being) son honey number; digit |
Rare, masculine nouns |
| V | -uo, -ė³ | -en-s, -er-s f | vanduõ akmuõ skaitmuõ sesuõ duktė̃ |
vandeñs akmeñs skaitmeñs seser̃s dukter̃s |
water stone digit sister daughter |
Rare, masculine nouns, four³ feminine; suffixed by -en- m and -er- f. |
- There are only two nouns ending in -i: pati 'wife' and marti 'daughter-in-law'. Their declension is the same to the second adjective feminine declension and similar to a second feminine noun palatalized declension. The noun pati is the same to a pronoun pati 'herself; myself f; itself (for feminine nouns)'
- Exception: petys m – shoulder, peties, etc. after this declensional pattern. This declension is very similar to the fifth declension.
- Duktė 'daughter' is the only word of the fifth declension, not having an ending uo. A word moteris 'woman, female' often has a genitive móters; the plural genitive of moteris is moterų (not palatalized -ių); it is the only normal form for the fifth declension and one of the two (the main is -ių) for the third. The more two words, obelis f – apple tree and dieveris m – (older) brother-in-law, are the same declensional case as moteris, but dieveris, being masculine possibly has a sg. inst. -iu. Dieveris is also the only -er- masculine case. There was also possibly a word broteris – brother (modern brolis) in old Lithuanian.
Read more about this topic: Lithuanian Declension
Famous quotes containing the word nouns:
“Children and savages use only nouns or names of things, which they convert into verbs, and apply to analogous mental acts.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“All the facts of nature are nouns of the intellect, and make the grammar of the eternal language. Every word has a double, treble or centuple use and meaning.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)