Old Irish

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Etymology

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From Proto-Celtic *weidwūs, from *weyd- (to know) +‎ *-wōs (stative participle suffix). The n-stem inflection is secondary.[1]

Noun

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fíadu m

  1. witness

Inflection

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Masculine n-stem
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative fíadu fíadainL fíadain
Vocative fíadu fíadainL fíadnaH
Accusative fíadainN fíadainL fíadnaH
Genitive fíadan fíadanL fíadanN
Dative fíadainL, fíaduL fíadnaib fíadnaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization
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Mutation

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Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
fíadu ḟíadu fíadu
pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

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  1. ^ Stüber, Karin (1998) The Historical Morphology of N-stems in Celtic (Maynooth studies in Celtic linguistics), Department of Old Irish, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, →ISBN, page 115

Further reading

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