Editing Rusyn language (section)

==== Declension type I: feminines ending in -а/-я ====
This type consists of grammatically feminine nouns ending in '''-а''' (hard) or '''-я''' ([[Palatalization (phonetics)#Slavic languages|soft]]) in the nominative case. The table below includes four examples of such nouns. The first two represent the ''archetypal'' feminine paradigm, while the second two represent a "common" or "two-fold gender" paradigm.

It is important to note that this second paradigm has atypical dative, locative, and instrumental singular suffixes which are actually representative of the male/neuter declension paradigm (visible later in this article). According to Pugh, this peculiarity developed as a result of the societal roles of "judge" and "elder" being traditionally patriarchal. This phenomenon is in contrast to grammatically feminine nouns of ambiguous gender where a particular role was not historically male-oriented, such as {{langx|rue|label=none|сирота|orphan}}. In these cases, the typical feminine paradigm is ''maintained''.{{sfn|Pugh|2009|p=43-49}}
{|class=wikitable
|+Feminine Nouns Ending in -а/-я in the Nominative Singular{{sfn|Pugh|2009|p=43-49}}
|-
!colspan="2" rowspan="2"|
!colspan="2"|Archetypal Feminine
!colspan="2"|Common/Two-Fold Gender
|-
! Hard !!Soft !! Hard !! Soft
|-
!rowspan="7"|Sg.
!Nominative
|школ'''а''' || земл'''я'''|| старост'''а''' || судц'''я'''
|-
!Accusative
|школ'''у'''
| земл'''ю''' || старост'''у''' || судц'''ю'''
|-
!Genitive
| школ'''ы''' || земл'''ї''' || старост'''ы''' || судц'''ї'''
|-
!Dative
| школ'''ї''' || земл'''ї''' || старост'''ови''' || судц'''ёви'''
|-
!Locative
|школ'''ї''' || земл'''и''' || старост'''ови''' || судц'''ёви'''
|-
!Instrumental
|школ'''ов'''{{efn|name=dec1n1<!--declension 1, note 1-->|'''-ов''' is pronounced as in English ''owe''.}} ||земл'''ёв'''{{efn|name=dec1n1}} ||старост'''ов''' <br /> старост'''ом''' || судц'''ём'''
|-
!Vocative
|школ'''о''' ||земл'''ё''' || старост'''о''' || судц'''ё'''
|- <!--------- PLURAL ------------>
!rowspan="6"|Pl.
!Nominative
|школ'''ы''' ||земл'''ї''' ||старост'''ове''' <br/> старост'''ы''' ||судц'''ёве''' <br/> судц'''ї'''
|-
!Accusative
|школ'''ы'''||земл'''ї'''||старост'''ів'''||судц'''їв'''
|-
!Genitive
|школ || земль || старост <br/> старост'''ів'''|| судц'''їв'''
|-
!Dative
|школ'''ам''' || земл'''ям''' || старост'''ам''' <br/> старост'''ім''' || судц'''ям''' <br/> судц'''їм'''
|-
!Locative
|школ'''ам''' || земл'''ях''' || старост'''ах''' <br/> старост'''ох''' || судц'''ях'''
|-
!Instrumental
|школ'''ами''' || земл'''ями''' || старост'''ами''' || судц'''ями'''
|-
!colspan="2"|English
|school || earth || elder || judge
|}

{{notelist}}