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 n, r are employed with nouns, d, s, t, n with verbs. The following is a synopsis of all grammatical endings attached to words: nominative (of the definite article) der, die, das, plural die for all genders; genit. des, der, des, plur. der; dat. dem, der, dem, plur. den; accus. den, die, das, plur. die. These are the endings of adjectives, nouns, and adjective pronouns. Comparative dicker, superl. dickest; receiving the preceding endings when declined. Endings of substantive nouns: singular genit. es or s, as Dorf-es, or like the nominative; dat. e, or like the nominative; plur. e, dat. en—new declension everywhere en or n (des Falken, &c.). Some substantives take r after e in the plural, and undergo metaphony, as in Bad, Bäder, Volk, Völker, Tuch, Tücher. The verbal endings are as follows: 1. Strong verbs (commonly called old conjugation): indicative present, e, est or st, et or t; plural, en or n, et or t, en or n; past, first and third persons have no ending, second est, or st; plural, en, et, en; imperative singular, first person wanting, second and third e; plural, en, et or t, en; participle past, prefix ge, suffix en. 2. Weak verbs (improperly called regular, really inorganic conjugation) have the same terminations as the preceding, except in the past tense, where et or t is inserted between the stem and the ending; participle past, prefix ge, suffix et or t. In both the ending of the participle present is end, infinitive en. The subjunctive of both has the endings always preceded by e, and the past of the strong verbs undergoes metaphony, as ich gab, I gave; ich gäbe, I might give. The strong verbs, whose conjugation is called irregular, exhibit the phonetic vicissitudes of words, and are therefore to be regarded as organic and containing the rules of the language; while the so-called regular verbs are weak, undergo no change, and only admit of mechanical additions.—All words of Teutonic physiognomy have the accent on the radical syllable; those taken from or resembling French, generally on the last effective syllable; and those from other languages on that syllable which to the German ear seems to be the radical; thus: Empfind′lichkeit, sensibility; unzuverläss′lich, untrustworthy, &c.; but Regiment′, Solidarität′, Kapitän′, &c. The German language has in a very high degree three qualities which render it both very plastic in its material and very flexible in its adaptability to all forms and categories of thought. These qualities are: 1, intuitiveness of expression, owing to the organic etyma of the Indo-European family of languages, which are clearest in the Latin (see ); 2, facility of composition of simple words into double or manifold agglomerates, requiring long paraphrases in other languages; 3, power of polysyllabic derivatives from radical words. These latter qualities do not impair the first.—Among the most eminent of the founders of German philology are Benecke, J. and W. Grimm, and Lachmann. See J. Grimm, Deutsche Grammatik, comprising also the Scandinavian branch (Göttingen, 1819-'37); Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Deutsche Philologie im Grundriss (Berlin, 1836), with a bibliography of dialects; Pischon, Denkmäler der deutschen Sprache (6 vols., Berlin, 1838-'51); Wackernagel, Deutsches Lesebuch (3 vols,, Basel, 1839-'43); J. Grimm, Geschichte der deutschen Sprache (Leipsic, 1848). For grammars of new High German, see Ickelsamer (about 1525); Albertus (1573); Oelinger, Unterricht der hochdeutschen Sprache (1574); Clajus, Grammatica Germanicæ Linguæ (1578); Martin Opitz, on German prosody (1624); Schottel, Deutsche Sprachkunst (1641); Morhof, Unterricht von der deutschen Sprache und Poesie (1682); Bödiker, Grundsätze der deutschen Sprache (1690); Braun (1765); Heynatz (1770); Basedow (1759); Bodmer (1775); Fulda, Grundregeln der deutschen Sprache (1778); Adelung (l781-'2); Heinsius (1798); J. Ch. A. Heyse (1814); K. F. Becker (1829). For dictionaries, see Frisch, Teutsch-lateinisches Wörterbuch (1741); Adelung (1774-'86); Moritz, Grammatisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (1793); Campe, Versuche deutscher Sprachbereicherung (1791-'4), and Wörterbuch zur Aufklärung und Verdeutschung der unserer Sprache aufgedrungenen fremden Ausdrücke (1801; modified by Brandt, 1807-'13); Heyse, Allgemeines Wörterbuch zur Verdeutschung, &c. (1804); Heinsius, Volksthümliches Wörterbuch (1818-'32); Adler, German and English (New York, 1848); K. W. L. Heyse (1833-'49); J. and W. Grimm, a gigantic work, begun half a century ago, and not yet completed. On synonymes, see Gottsched, Beobachtungen über den Gebrauch und Missbrauch vieler deutscher Wörter (1758); Heynatz (1795); Eberhard (1802); Maass, Wiegand, Ch. F. Meyer, &c.— received its first impulse from the fondness of the early Germans for celebrating in song the fabulous and heroic associations of their traditions and history. The legends immediately connected with Gothic, Frankish, and Burgundian warriors of the period of national migration were eventually embodied in the lay of the Nibelungen, the most celebrated production of German mediæval poetry. The spirit of the Nibelungen is essentially pagan and mythological. Christian literary activity manifested itself as early as the 4th century in the translation of almost the whole of the Bible (probably by Bishop Ulfilas), fragments of which remain, and are cherished by the Germans as the earliest monument of their ecclesiastical literature, although it was composed in the Gothic language. The British missionaries established cloisters and brotherhoods in Germany between the 6th and 8th centuries, and laid the foundation for that system of instruction which in the 8th century was perfected by Charlemagne. Metrical translations of the Gospels appeared in the 9th century in the old High and Low German dialects, the former (Krist, new ed., Berlin, 1831) in rhymes,