Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/en

This Proto-Celtic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

This Proto-Celtic entry contains original research. The reconstruction in this entry is based on published research, but the specific form presented here is not found in prior works.

Proto-Celtic

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁én. Matasović reconstructs *eni for the whole preposition,^[1] but since the preposition triggers a nasal mutation/eclipsis instead of a lenition in its descendants, a closed syllable may be reconstructed instead. However, the attested closed syllable could be explained by the theory of the early apocope of final /i/ in unstressed words, usually used to explain the rise of the absolute and conjunct inflection in Old Irish (by treating conjunct forms in the unstressed category).^[2]

Preposition

*en

in

Derived terms

*eni-

Descendants

Proto-Brythonic: *ɨn
- Middle Breton: en
  - Breton: e
- Cornish: yn, en
- Old Welsh: in
  - Middle Welsh: yn
    - Welsh: yn
Old Irish: i, hí, hi
- Irish: i
- Scottish Gaelic: an
- Manx: ayns

References

^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 116
^ Bisagni, Jacopo. (2012). The Origins of the Preterite of the Old Irish Copula and Substantive Verb: An Overview and New Ideas. Journal of Celtic Linguistics, 14(1), 1-29, p. 9

[1] Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 116

[2] Bisagni, Jacopo. (2012). The Origins of the Preterite of the Old Irish Copula and Substantive Verb: An Overview and New Ideas. Journal of Celtic Linguistics, 14(1), 1-29, p. 9

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