Appendix:Lower Sorbian nouns

This appendix is intended to help editors decide which declension-table template to use for various Lower Sorbian nouns. Be sure to look at the documentation for each template before you use it, as they all take different parameters.

For nouns that can occur, at least in principle, in all three numbers (singular, dual, and plural), there are many different templates, which depend on the gender of the noun and on the final consonant of the stem (before the final vowel in the case of feminines and neuters).

There are four templates for regular masculine nouns: {{dsb-decl-noun-17}} (which also includes class 18), {{dsb-decl-noun-19}} (which also includes classes 20–22), {{dsb-decl-noun-41}}, and {{dsb-decl-noun-m48}}. If you are unfamiliar with the numbered classes, just consider the final letter of the noun (and in some cases the genitive singular form) and find it in the following table:

The table above works only for regular nouns that have no stem changes. For nouns with stem changes, see Irregular nouns below.

There are seven templates for regular feminine nouns: {{dsb-decl-noun-1}} (which also includes class 2), {{dsb-decl-noun-3}}, {{dsb-decl-noun-4}} (which also includes classes 5), {{dsb-decl-noun-6}}, {{dsb-decl-noun-7}} (which also includes classes 8 and 9), {{dsb-decl-noun-11}} (which also includes classes 12 and 13), and {{dsb-decl-noun-f48}}. The choice of template depends first on whether the noun ends in a consonant or in -a, and if it ends in -a, what consonant precedes that -a; in the case of {{dsb-decl-noun-f48}} the form of the genitive singular is decisive.

There are six templates for regular neuter nouns: four for those whose genitive singular ends in -a and two for those whose genitive singular ends in -ego. The four for those with genitive in -a are {{dsb-decl-noun-24}} (which also includes class 26), {{dsb-decl-noun-28}} (which also includes classes 27, 29, and 30), {{dsb-decl-noun-33}} (which also includes classes 34, 35, and 36), and {{dsb-decl-noun-37}} (which also includes class 39). The two for those with genitive in -ego are {{dsb-decl-noun-n47}} and {{dsb-decl-noun-n48}}.

For singular-only nouns, such as mass nouns (e.g. kšej) and proper nouns (e.g. Chóśebuz), you can use:

• {{dsb-decl-noun-sg}}

and for plural-only nouns (so-called pluralia tanta) you can use:

• {{dsb-decl-noun-43}} for classes 43, 45, and 46 (genitive in -ow, e.g. Błota)
• {{dsb-decl-noun-44}} for class 44 (genitive endingless, e.g. Drježdźany)

Irregular nouns and those in declension classes without a specific template can use the all-purpose templates:

• {{dsb-decl-noun}} (for nouns with all three numbers)
• {{dsb-decl-noun-pl}} (for plural-only nouns)