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 between soft and hard declension is particularly relevant in languages like Polish, where nouns are classified into these two declension types based on their stem-final consonant. Soft-declension nouns typically end in consonants that undergo palatalization, such as -ć, -ń, -ś, -ź, or -ż, while hard-declension nouns end in consonants that do not undergo such changes, such as -k, -g, -ch, -sz, or -ż.

The term "soft declension" is also used in a broader sense to refer to any declension system that involves a phonetic change in the stem, regardless of the specific nature of that change. In this sense, soft declension can be found in languages outside the Germanic and Baltic branches, such as in some Slavic languages and in the Baltic language Latvian.