IA-STEMS

nouns: IA-STEMS

The ia-stems are a subgroup of the a-stems, just like ja- and wa-stems, but since the endings of the ia-stems don't really look like the a-stem endings anymore, they are treated separately. There are quite a few masculine ia-stems in OIcel., but not that many in OSw. The neutral ones are very common in both the west and the east, though.

If the stem ends with a /g/ or a /k/, a /j/ is inserted between it and all endings that begin with /a/ or /u/.

Masculine ia-stems:

sing. plur.
like hirðir:
· fylkir 'commander' (poetic. word) ; (gen. plur. fylkja etc.)
· hellir 'cave'
· hirðir 'shepard'

nom. hirð-ir nom. hirð-ar, fylk-jar
gen. hirð-is gen. hirð-a, fylk-ja
dat. hirð-i dat. hirð-um, fylk-jum
acc. hirð-i acc. hirð-a, fylk-ja
In OSw. most masc. ia-stems have lost their /r/ in the nom. sing. and become an-stems (hirði, hirða etc.).

The neutral ia-stems only differ in the nominative and accusative.

sing. plur.
like kvæði:
· kvæði 'song, poem'
· enni 'forehead'
· minni 'memory, remembrance'
· adjectival abstracts like ''
· ríki 'kingdom' ; (gen. plur. ríkja etc.)
· merki 'mark, bordermark' ; (gen. plur. merkja etc.)

nom., acc. kvæð-i nom., acc. kvæð-i

The ia-stems have their origin in proto-indo-european jo-stems, just like the ja-stems, but the suffix -jo- developed differently depending on whether the preceeding syllable was long (i-e. jo > germ. ia (or ija)) or short (i-e. jo > germ. ja).
sing: nom: -iaR < -iaz < -jos ; gen: -ias < -jas/-jes < -joso/-jeso ; dat: -iê < -iai < loc. -joi ; acc: -ia < -ian < -jom
plur: nom: -iôR < -iõz < -jõs (-jo+es) ; gen: -ia < -iô < -iõn < -jõm (-jo+om) ; dat: -iumR < -iomiz < -jomes ; acc: -ian < -ians < -jons
The neutral endings: sing: nom/acc: -ia < -ian < -jom
plur: nom/acc: -iu < -iô < -jô (-jo+H)