Declension in Linguistics

Definition

• Declension: Changing a word form to express its syntactic function via inflection.
• Applies to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and determiners.
• Indicates grammatical categories such as number, case, gender.
• Verb inflection changes are called conjugation.

Occurrence in Languages

• Common in languages like Quechuan, Indo-European, Bantu, Semitic, Finno-Ugric, Turkic.
• Old English had inflections, largely abandoned in Modern English.
• Modern English is mostly analytic, lacking complex declension.

English-Speaking Perspective

• Inflected languages use suffixes to specify subjects/objects and word cases, allowing freer word order.
• Example: Different word orders in inflected languages can convey the same meaning.
• Complexity of declension provides flexibility but can confuse if not native.

Examples of Hypothetical English Declension

• Hypothetical suffixes for cases: -no (nominative), -ge (genitive), -da (dative), etc.
• Demonstrated how sentences could be structured with these suffixes while maintaining meaning.
• Complex sentences could be rearranged with the same meaning in inflected languages.

English Language Details

• Nouns: Distinct singular and plural forms, possessive constructions.
• Pronouns: More complex declensions, e.g., "I" (subjective), "me" (objective).
• Gender: Not systematically marked in nouns; more visible in pronouns (he, she, it).

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Declined for degree of comparison (positive, comparative, superlative).
• Example: "quick", "quicker", "quickest".
• Demonstrative determiners (this/that) declined for number.

Declension in Other Languages

• Latin and Sanskrit examples with specific case uses.
• Latin: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, vocative.
• Sanskrit: eight cases including locative and instrumental.

Historical Insights

• Ancient Greeks' understanding of declension was vague, but Stoics contributed to foundational linguistic concepts.

Declension in Specific Languages

• Lists various languages with existing declension systems and those that lost them (e.g., Modern Arabic dialects, most Romance languages).

Additional Resources

• Links to more information on declension in specific languages and linguistic articles.