96. This declension came to include the fourth. With the exception of
mas, ‘hand’ (generally feminine), it contained only masculine nouns.
The different types may be illustrated by _fŏcus_, _dōnum_, _faber_:--
_fŏcus_ ＞ fǫcs _dōnum_ ✱_dōnus_ ＞ dọns _faber_ ＞ faure fabre fabres
_fŏcum_ ＞ fǫc _dōnum_ ＞ dọn _fabrum_ ＞ fabre
_fŏcī_ ＞ fǫc _dōna_ ✱_dōnī_ ＞ dọn _fabrī_ ＞ fabre
_fŏcos_ ＞ fǫcs _dōna_ ✱_dōnos_ ＞ dọns _fabros_ ＞ fabres
For the c of _fŏcī_, see § 92, (2). For ✱_dŏnus_, etc., see § 89 (1).
Nom. fabre is due to the analogy of the other three cases; the s of
fabres is borrowed from the prevailing fǫcs type.
1. Neuters which long preserved their gender often have no
_-s_ in the nom. sg.: _segle_ or _segles_. Nouns in _-age_
from _-aticum_ commonly have no _-s_: _corage_, _damnage_,
_message_, _senhorage_; but forms with _-s_ occur also. Learned
nouns in _-i_ from _-ium_ regularly have no _-s_: _breviari_,
_emperi_, _iuzizi_, _testimoni_. Post-verbal nouns, on the
other hand, usually take the nom. -s: _albires_, _blasme-s_,
_consires_, _desires_ (cf. § 94). By the analogy of the
_fabre-s_, _segle-s_, _blasme-s_ types, many masculines in _-e_
sometimes drop the _-s_: _clergue-s_, _diable-s_, _morgue-s_,
_oncle-s_, _poble-s_. _Maestre_, _prestre_ regularly have no
_-s_.
2. Most proper names are declined like common nouns: _Arnautz_
_Arnaut_, _Boecis_ _Boeci_, _Enrics_ _Enric_, _Lozoics_
_Lozoic_, _Peire-s_ _Peire_. Many proper names, however,
developed in Gaul and elsewhere, from the 9th century on, a Low
Latin declension _-us_ _-ōne(m)_, as _Petrus_ _Petrōnis_ (cf.
§ 95, 2): hence _Carle-s_ _Carló_, _Peire-s_ _Peiró_, etc.; so
_Bergonhs_ _Bergonhó_, etc.