There are two classes of declensions of Anglo-Saxon nouns:—_Strong_,
those which have sprung from vowel stems, and _weak_, that which has
sprung from stems in _an_. Of the four declensions, the first, second and
third are distinguished by the genitive singular ending in _es_, _e_, and
_a_, respectively, and the fourth by its termination in _an_.
_Strong nouns_ have all masculines of the first or third declension; all
feminines of the second or third, and all neuters of the first.
_Abstract nouns_ have their gender controlled by the terminations. In
derivatives, the feminine gender prevails, while compound nouns follow
the gender of the last part.
Names of males, of the moon, and of many weeds, flowers, winds, are
_masculine_. Nouns representing names of females, of the sun, and of many
trees, rivers, and soft and low musical instruments, are _feminine_.
_Neuter_ nouns are names of wife, child, as well as diminutives, many
general names, and words made an object of thought.
_Epicene nouns_ have one grammatical gender, but are used for both
sexes. Names of mammalia, except a few little timid ones, are masculine.
Large and fierce birds are masculine; others, especially singing-birds,
are feminine; large fishes are masculine, small, feminine; insects are
feminine.
While in English there are but three cases, in Anglo-Saxon there are six.
The nominative and vocative are always alike; the nominative, accusative,
and vocative are alike in all plurals, and in the singular of all neuters
and strong masculines. The genitive plural ends always in _á_ or _ená_,
and the dative and instrumental always in _um_ (_on_).
Names of women in _u_ or a consonant are strong, those in _e_ or _a_ are
weak; while those of men in _u_, _e_ or _a_ consonant are strong, and
those in _a_ are weak.