The third
declension
In linguistics, declension (verb: ''to decline'') is the changing of the form of a word, generally to express its syntactic function in the sentence by way of an inflection. Declension may apply to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and det ...
is a category of
noun
In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...
s in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and
Greek with broadly similar
case formation — diverse
stems, but similar
endings.
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
also has a corresponding class (although not commonly termed as ''third''), in which the so-called
basic case endings are applied very regularly.
In contrast with the
first- and
second-declension endings, those of the third declension lack a
theme vowel (a or o/u in the first and second declensions) and so are called
athematic.
One distinguishing feature of third-declension nouns is a
genitive
In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
singular ending of a short vowel and ''s'': Latin ''rēg-is'' "of a king" Greek χειρ-ός (''cheir-ós'') "of a hand", and Sanskrit ''bhagavat-as'' "of the blessed (one)". Another is a
dative singular ending of ''i'' (short ''i'' in Greek, long ''ī'' in Latin): ''rēg-ī'' "for a king"; χειρ-ί (''cheir-í'') "for, with the hand". This corresponds to an ''-e'' ending in Sanskrit, which might have been a contracted ''ai'' or lengthened ''i'': ''bhagavat-e'' "for the blessed (one)"
Many third-declension nouns, unlike first- or second-declension nouns, show different stems depending on case and number — usually one stem for the
nominative
In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...
singular, and another for the rest of the cases, though some Greek nouns have three stems. Greek stems are often formed by
ablaut: Latin ''
homō'' "person" and ''homin-ēs'' "people"; Greek
πατήρ (''patēr’'') "father", πατρ-ός (''patr-ós'') "of a father", and πατέρ-ες (''patér-es''), "fathers". In Sanskrit the situation is similar to that in Greek, but the strongest stem is used somewhat more.
A subcategory within both the Latin and Greek third declension is nouns with
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...
stems. These, unlike all first- and second-declension nouns, end in a consonant. Often the consonant at the beginning of certain endings undergoes a sound change with the consonant of the stem: Latin
rēx' "king", from ''rēg-s'' (compare the earlier-mentioned ''rēgis'');
πούς (''poús'') "foot", and Attic dative plural ποσί (''posí'') "on foot" from πόδ-ς (''pód-s'') and ποδ-σί (''pod-sí''). These changes are subject to
sandhi in Sanskrit.
Greek third-declension nouns with vowel endings
Other Greek nouns whose stems in the earliest Greek (notably
Mycenaean) ended in ι (''i'') or υ (''u''), and ''j'' (English consonantal ''
y'') or
ϝ (digamma; English ''w'') in
e-grade, have in later Greek undergone sound changes that markedly distinguish them from run-of-the-mill third-declension nouns. In particular, the stems with j or ϝ lose this sound, and in some cases the preceding vowel is lengthened by
compensatory lengthening. In
Attic
An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...
, if there is a short vowel adjacent in the ending, the two vowels switch their lengths by
quantitative metathesis. Illustrative of the process is the development of the genitive singular of
βασιλεύς (''basileús''), "king",
πόλις (''pólis''), "city", and
ἄστυ (''ástu''), "town":
:early Greek *βασιλῆϝ-ος →
Homeric βασιλῆος → Attic βασιλέως
:early Greek *πόλεj-oς → Homeric πόληος → Attic πόλεως
:early Greek *ϝάστηϝ-ος → *ἄστηος → Attic ἄστεως
:''*basilēw-os → basilēos → basiléōs''
:''*póley-os → pólēos → póleōs''
:''*wástēw-os → *ástēos → ásteōs''
References
{{reflist
See also
*
Latin declension
Latin declension is the set of patterns according to which Latin language, Latin words are Declension, declined—that is, have their endings altered to show grammatical case, Grammatical number, number and Grammatical gender, gender. Nouns, pron ...
*
Ancient Greek nouns
3
3