Appendix:Old Irish glossary

A glossary of terms used in the body of this dictionary for Old Irish entries specifically. See Appendix:Glossary for a more general glossary. This page can be linked to using.

Symbols

 * · (middle dot)
 * Used in modern notation in compound and conjunct verb forms to indicate that the following syllable is stressed.
 * See prototonic and deuterotonic.
 * See prototonic and deuterotonic.
 * See prototonic and deuterotonic.
 * See prototonic and deuterotonic.


 * ◌̇ (punctum delens)
 * Used over ⟨f⟩ and ⟨s⟩ to indicate that they have been lenited to ∅ and  respectively. Also sometimes used over ⟨m⟩ and ⟨n⟩ when these are used in the context of nasalization (eclipsis).

A

 * affixed pronoun
 * Old Irish had no independent object pronouns. Instead the object was indicated on the verb, either with an infixed pronoun or suffixed pronoun. See also Appendix:Old Irish affixed pronouns.


 * absolute (inflection)
 * Refers to the longer of the two sets of verbs endings, the other one being conjunct. Absolute endings are used with simple verbs not preceded by a conjunct particle.
 * Compare the contrast between deuterotonic and prototonic for compound verbs.
 * Compare the contrast between deuterotonic and prototonic for compound verbs.


 * Preverb with a specific grammatical function: to add resultative or potential meaning to the verb form. The most common preverb used as the augment is, but and  also occur with some frequency in this function.
 * Preverb with a specific grammatical function: to add resultative or potential meaning to the verb form. The most common preverb used as the augment is, but and  also occur with some frequency in this function.


 * The augment occurs especially frequently with the preterite. The augmented preterite is also called the perfect.

C

 * conjunct (inflection)
 * Refers to the shorter of the two sets of verb endings, the other one being absolute. Conjunct endings are used with simple verbs preceded by a conjunct particle. They are also the only endings used with all compound verbs.
 * Compare the contrast between deuterotonic and prototonic for compound verbs.
 * Compare the contrast between deuterotonic and prototonic for compound verbs.


 * conjunct particle
 * A verbal particle that requires a conjunct verb form of a simple verb and the prototonic verb form of a compound verb.


 * The conjunct particles comprise the following: negative particles like ; interrogative particles like ; the conjunctions, , ; the prepositions combined with the relative particle ; and the unstressed interrogative pronoun.

D

 * dependent
 * Refers to verb forms which are preceded by a conjunct particle, that is to say conjunct simple verbs or prototonic compound verbs.


 * deuterotonic
 * Refers to compound verbs forms which are stressed on the second syllable, in contrast to prototonic verb forms. Deuterotonic verb forms are required when they are not preceded by a conjunct particle.
 * Compare the contrast between absolute and conjunct for simple verbs.
 * Compare the contrast between absolute and conjunct for simple verbs.

H

 * h-prothesis
 * An initial mutation whereby the sound is attached to the beginning of a vowel-initial word. Not reliably indicated in Old Irish orthography, but its presence in the modern Goidelic languages confirms that it existed at the earliest stages. In this dictionary the triggering of h-prothesis by a word or morpheme is indicated by a superscript capital: $H$. Called by a variety of names by different scholars, including aspiration, gemination (an inaccurate term arising from a misunderstanding of the history of the mutation), prefixed h, sandhi-h etc.

I

 * independent
 * Refers to verb forms which are not preceded by a conjunct particle, that is to say absolute simple verbs or deuterotonic compound verbs.


 * infixed pronoun
 * Old Irish had no independent object pronouns. Instead the object was indicated on the verb with so-called infixed pronouns. They weren't infixed in the strict sense, but prefixed to the stressed portion of the verb, following a conjunct particle or preverb.
 * See also suffixed pronoun and Appendix:Old Irish affixed pronouns.
 * See also suffixed pronoun and Appendix:Old Irish affixed pronouns.
 * See also suffixed pronoun and Appendix:Old Irish affixed pronouns.

L

 * lenition
 * A consonant mutation whereby consonants are phonetically weakened: plosives are replaced by fricatives, fricatives by weaker fricatives, and sonorants by shorter sonorants. In this dictionary the triggering of lenition by a word or morpheme is indicated by a superscript capital: $L$.

M

 * mutation
 * A grammatical phenomenon whereby the first sound of a word changes depending on the grammatical context. In Old Irish there are three mutations: lenition, nasalization, and h-prothesis. In this dictionary the triggering of one of these mutations by a word or morpheme is indicated by a superscript capital: $L$, $N$, and $H$ respectively.

N

 * nasalization
 * A consonant mutation whereby a nasal sound is added before voiced plosives and vowels and voiceless plosives (and /f/) are replaced by their voiced counterparts. In this dictionary the triggering of nasalization by a word or morpheme is indicated by a superscript capital: $N$. The equivalent mutation in modern Irish is known as eclipsis, a term sometimes encountered in discussions of Old Irish as well.

O

 * Ogham
 * Refers to the oldest form of the Irish language of which we have direct evidence, also called (4th-7th century); and also the  with which it was written and the  on which it is recorded.

P

 * preverb
 * Verbal prefixes that combine with verbs to form compound verbs.


 * prototonic
 * Refers to compound verbs forms which are stressed on the first syllable, in contrast to deuterotonic verb forms. Prototonic verb forms are required when they are preceded by a conjunct particle.
 * Compare the contrast between absolute and conjunct for simple verbs.
 * Compare the contrast between absolute and conjunct for simple verbs.

S

 * suffixed pronoun
 * Old Irish had no independent object pronouns. Instead the object was indicated on the verb, usually with an infixed pronoun. Suffixed pronouns on the other hand are rare. They are placed after absolute verb forms. They can't occur with compounds and conjunct particles.
 * See also Appendix:Old Irish affixed pronouns.
 * See also Appendix:Old Irish affixed pronouns.