the Masters.

Voc. Magistri, Masters, O Masters.

Abl. Magistris, from Masters, from the Masters.

Our nouns are therefore only declined thus:

Master, Gen. Master's. Plur. Masters.

Scholar, Gen. Scholar's. Plur. Scholars.

These genitives are always written with a mark of elision, master's,
scholar's, according to an opinion long received, that the 's is a
contraction of his, as the soldier's valour, for the soldier his
valour: but this cannot be the true original, because 's is put to
female nouns, Woman's beauty; the Virgin's delicacy; Haughty Juno's
unrelenting hate; and collective nouns, as Women's passions; the
rabble's insolence; the multitude's folly: in all these cases it is
apparent that his cannot be understood. We say likewise the
foundation's strength; the diamond's lustre; the winter's severity: but
in these cases his may be understood, he and his having formerly been
applied to neuters in the place now supplied by it and its.

The learned and sagacious Wallis, to whom every English grammarian owes
a tribute of reverence, calls this modification of the noun an
adjective possessive; I think with no more propriety than he might have
applied the same to the genitive in equitum decus, Trojae oris, or any
other Latin genitive. Dr. Lowth, on the other part, supposes the
possessive pronouns mine and thine to be genitive cases.

This termination of the noun seems to constitute a real genitive
indicating possession. It is derived to us from the Saxon's who
declined smith, a smith; Gen. smither, of a smith; Plur. smither or
smithar, smiths; and so in two other of their seven declensions.

It is a further confirmation of this opinion, that in the old poets
both the genitive and plural were longer by a syllable than the
original word: knitis for knight's, in Chaucer; leavis for leaves, in
Spenser.

When a word ends in s, the genitive may be the same with the
nominative, as Venus temple.

The plural is formed by adding s, as table, tables; fly, flies; sister,
sisters; wood, woods; or es where s could not otherwise be sounded, as
after ch, s, sh, x, z; after c sounded like s, and g like j; the mute e is
vocal before s, as lance, lances; outrage, outrages.

The formation of the plural and genitive singular is the same.

A few words still make the plural in n,