Syntax

The noun

Agreement

Nouns and adjectives must agree in case, number and gender.

Knjazeses mø ist schøne : the prince's girl is beautiful

Ich saw þo schønen mø þe þu mis maþljedes pi. Si inleveþ in enem widem huse pi strandschere : I saw the beautiful girl you spoke me about. She lives in a big (lit. large) house by the beach.

When an adjective determines several nouns of different genders, it is put at the masculine if at least one of the determined nouns is masculine, at the feminine in every other case.

Ivanes scheno ach proþer ires sindsch michele : Ivan's wife and her brother are great

heþo ach ljeset sindsch gumenløse : the moor and the wood are desert.

Use of the cases

Nominative

The nominative is used for the subject of the sentence :

Aische frieþ enen fisker : Aishe loves a fisher.

It is also used for predicate after wesen and verbs of being or seeming

þiedena þuz en tringwe þral kacheneses wesen : the king seemed to be a fidel vassal of the emperor.

It can also have a vocative value :

Fatime, kom her ! : Fattima, come here

The nominative is also a kind of “zero-case” at which is put any word syntaxically isolated from the rest of the sentence. This is particularly common in rural or lower class speech.

Mehmetes swistres, Ich schal jes liechen allen.: Mehmet's sisters, I shall mary them all.

It can also be used for denomination, even whien strict grammatical logic would suggest another case.

Si gaf tøzer ires namet Fatime : She gave her daughter the name of Fatima

Accusative

The accusative is basically the case of the direct object complement of the transitive verb.

Is saw enen wulf in heþere : he saw a wolf in the moor

Si køpjede enen luenin at pazarem : she bought a horse in the market