softdeclension
Soft declension is a term used in linguistics to describe a type of noun declension system found in some languages, particularly in the Germanic and Baltic branches of the Indo-European language family. In soft declension, the stem of the noun undergoes a specific phonetic change when it is inflected, typically involving the softening of a consonant, such as the palatalization of a velar consonant (e.g., /k/ to /tʃ/ or /g/ to /dʒ/). This change is often accompanied by a change in the vowel quality, such as the raising of a back vowel to a front vowel.
Soft declension is contrasted with hard declension, where the stem remains unchanged during inflection. The distinction
The term "soft declension" is also used in a broader sense to refer to any declension system