Russian Sounds and Inflections

7. Masculine Second-Declension Nouns

7 MASCULINE SECONDDECLENSION NOUNS The second declension consists of nouns of either masculine or neuter gender, as may be determined by whether one refers to the noun with  (masculine) or о (neuter). Nouns of these respective genders differ primarily in the NA endings, masculine nouns taking Nsg. in -ъ§§ {-Ø}, neuter nouns taking NAsg. in -о {-o}. Masculine animate nouns take the A like the G in both sg. and pl., while masculine inanimate nouns take the A like the N. In this chapter we describe second-declension nouns of masculine gender . Neuter-gender nouns of the second declension are described in Chapter 8. 7.1. ENDINGS OF THE MASCULINE SECOND DECLENSION Morphophonemic Singular Plural N -Ø -i (-a, -′ ′ ′ ′e) G -a G2 -u -ov ~ -′ ′ ′ ′ej (-Ø) D -u -am A =N/G, depending on animacy I -om -am′ ′ ′ ′i P -′ ′ ′ ′e (-′ ′ ′ ′i) P2 -ú -ax (V -) Technical Orthographic Singular Plural N -ъ§§ - (-, -Ο) G - (G2 -у) -о ~ - (-ъ§§ ) D -у -м A =N/G, depending on animacy I -ом - P -Ο (- ) (P2 -) - (V -) : see 7.2.10. 158 7. MASCULINE SECOND-DECLENSION NOUNS 7.2. NOTES ON THE MASCULINE SECOND DECLENSION 7.2.1. SOFT STEMS In the NAsg., final spelled - marks a preceding paired consonant as soft (e.g., ол represents {rojálä} ← ол +ъ§§ ); - represents the stem consonant {j} (e.g., му {muzäéj} ← му +ъ§§ ). Any endings spelled with the letters - or -ю indicate that the preceding consonant is either soft or is . For example, Gsg. ол, Dsg. олю represent {rojáläa} ← ол +, {rojáläu} ← ол +у; Gsg. му, Dsg. мую represent {muzäéja} ← му +, {muzäéju} ← му +у. 7.2.2. SPELLED -и; BASIC ENDINGS IN -o An ending in spelled - (in the Npl.) may represent - preceded by a soft paired consonant or stem-final - , but it may also be produced by spelling conventions after к, г, , ш, , , , as in Npl. лк ← лк+, л ← л+. Basic endings in о respelled as / (in the Isg. or Gpl.) may indicate о preceded by a soft paired consonant or , as in убл м ← убл +-м, лм ← л +ом, мум ← му +ом, or may represent unstressed о after a hushing consonant or ц, as in мм ← м+ом, " ц ← " ц+о . 7.2.3. MOBILE VOWELS A mobile vowel may appear in the Nsg. and inanimate Asg. before the ending -ъ§§ {-Ø}, as in NAsg. о#олк, Gsg. о#олк"; NAsg. ко  Gsg. ко "; Nsg. о#ц GAsg. о#ц". The mobile vowel also occurs in a few nouns before the plural extension -ь§§ -, as in гол Gsg. гл, Npl. гол, к"м Gsg. к"м, NApl. км. 7.2.4. G2 ENDING -у {-u} The G2 ending -у {-u} occurs optionally with a few mass nouns (nouns referring to substances) in the sense of amount (" Gsg. "ю). This ending appears to be slowly going out of use. Such nouns are not counted among the spelling or declension types, but must be learned separately. Among such nouns are: б, ог"д, ду, ск, год, д, дм, , ", к#фл, к "с, кл , кумс, л мо"д, лк, м д, мл, ц, о, , с, сл"#, с", сг, ск, с#, с, с, #б"к, # ог, ксус, , цм#, " , ш лк, шокол"д, д. A few abstract nouns may also take the G2 ending -у, for example блск, б"к, с, д, г, ", кк, лск, ос#, го , с #, с. The G2 ending -у is also 7.2.4. G2 ENDING -у {-u} 159 used with certain other nouns in combination with certain prepositions (б боу, с глоду, со сму), and in various set expressions, e.g., б #олку,  ду,  дому, #оду, and others. Note the tendency toward stress retraction onto the preposition in these expressions. A famous minimal pair contrasting the G1 to the G2 ending, from Roman Jakobson, is дос#"#ок " ‘an insufficiency in the tea’ vs. дос#"#ок "( ‘an inadequacy of tea’ (see the box further below). 7.2.5. ANIMACY Nouns of the masculine second declension referring to animate beings take Asg. and Apl. like the Gsg. and Gpl., respectively: дд GAsg. дд GApl. ддо , к GAsg. ко GApl. ко . Inanimate nouns take Asg. and Apl. like the Nsg. and Npl.: NAsg. с#л NApl. с#ол, NAsg. сло " NApl. сло . 7.2.6. PSG. ENDING IN -Ο The Psg. ending -Ο {-′e} is spelled -; see с#ол ← с#ол+Ο. 7.2.7. PSG. ENDING IN -и The Psg. ending - {-′i} occurs after stems in - -: г Psg. г {génäiji} ← г + . When stressed, the Psg. after stems in - - is -Ο. Note the alternate Psg. forms of к : к or к . 7.2.8. P2 ENDING IN -у {-u} “LOCATIVE” The P2 ending - {-u} or “Locative”, always stressed, occurs in a concrete locational sense with certain nouns, usually monosyllables exhibiting a stress shift from singular-stem to plural-ending, as in лс Gsg. лс Npl. лс" Gpl. лс , P2 лс. Nouns taking the P2 must be learned individually . Among such nouns are: "д, б"л, бг, б , бк, б#, # #, д, гл", гд, длг, дм, ", , кл , к" , кг, л д лд, лс, л #, лб лб, м д, м, мс#, с, ", , л, л floor, лк, #, с#, #, , " , # #, д, с"д, сг, ск, с#, с# , #м, #л, гол угл, д, шк"ф. A minimal pair contrasting the P1 and P2 endings, again from Roman Jakobson, is у# го-#о сг vs. у# го-#о сг ‘they look for something in the snow’. The first could be appropriately said of artists looking for some aesthetic quality in the snow, while the second might be said of squirrels looking for nuts. See the box further below. 160 7. MASCULINE SECOND-DECLENSION NOUNS 7.2.9. GSG. COUNTING FORM IN -á Masculine nouns with optional stressed P2 in - sometimes have a Gsg. counting form in stressed -": д Gsg. д, but д " д"; "с Gsg. "с, but # с"; ш"г Gsg. ш"г, but # шг"; ш" Gsg. ш", but д " ш"; also: слд Gsg...