MHG. OHG.

Nom. Acc. lamp lamb, _lamb_ lember lembir
Gen. lambes lambes lember lembiro
Dat. lambe lambe lembern lembirum

On the loss of the {e} in the gen. and dat. plural, see Sec. 9, 2.

Other examples are: {ei} (pl. {eiger}, {eijer}, {eier}, Sec. 35), _egg_,
{huon}, _hen_, {kalp}, _calf_, {rat}, _wheel_, {rint}, _bullock_, {tal},
_dale_.

3. {Feminine Nouns.}

Sec. 48.

{First declension.}--To this declension belong all feminine nouns having
their nominative case singular and plural alike. It includes: (a) the
old feminine {[o]-}stems, as {g[e:]be}, _gift_, {s[e]le}, _soul_, {zal},
_number_; (b) the old feminine {j[o]-}stems, as {k[u:]neginne}, {k[u:]negin},
{k[u:]neg[i]n}, _queen_, and similarly {vriundinne}, _friend_, {g[u:]tinne},
_goddess_; (c) the old feminine {w[o]-}stems with and without {w}, as
{br[a]we}, {br[a]}, _brow_, pl. {br[a]} beside weak pl. {br[a]wen}; {diuwe},
{diu}, _servant_; (d) the old feminine abstract nouns in {-[i]}, as
{vinster} (OHG. {finstr[i]}), _darkness_, {sch[oe]ne} (OHG. {sc[o]n[i]}),
_beauty_; and (e) the old consonant stem, {swester}, {sw[e:]ster},
_sister_.

SING.

Nom. Acc. g[e:]be zal vinster
Gen. g[e:]be zal vinster
Dat. g[e:]be zal vinster

PLUR.

Nom. Acc. g[e:]be zal vinster
Gen. g[e:]ben zaln vinstern
Dat. g[e:]ben zaln vinstern

On the endings in nouns declined like {zal}, _number_, {dol}, _pain_,
{wal}, _choice_, {nar}, _food_, {schar}, _flock_, and {vinster}, see Sec. 9,
1,2.

The gen. plural had the ending of the weak declension already in the
oldest period of the language. Through the nom. singular and the gen.
and dat. plural having the same endings as the feminine weak declension
(Sec. 53), {[o]-}stems began in OHG. to be inflected after the analogy of the
weak declension, especially in the plural. This process spread
considerably in MHG. with concrete nouns, but not often with abstract
nouns.

Sec. 49.

{Second declension.}--To this declension belong all feminine nouns
which form their plural in {-e} and have umlaut in the stem-vowel. It
includes: (a) the old feminine {i-}stems; (b) the old {u-}stem {hant},
_hand_; and (c) several old consonantal stems, see below.

SING. PLUR.