Appendix:Old Irish class A I present verbs

Old Irish class A I verbs (Strachan's B1, McCone's W1) are derived from Proto-Celtic verbs ending in *-āti, which are derived from Proto-Indo-European verbs ending in *-eh₂yéti and correspond to the Latin first conjugation, Ancient Greek verbs in -άω (-áō), and Germanic class 2 weak verbs in *-ōną. The final consonant of the stem is nonpalatalized throughout, meaning that any consonant-initial endings also start with a nonpalatalized consonant.

See Category:Old Irish class A I present verbs for a list of verbs belonging to this class.

Nondeponent endings

A sample verb for this class is marbaid (“to kill”). The endings are as follows:

Present indicative

	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
Absolute	marbu / marbaim	marbai	marbaid	marbmai	marbthae	marbait	marbthair	marbtair
Conjunct	·marbu / ·marbaim	·marbai	·marba	·marbam	·marbaid	·marbat	·marbthar	·marbtar
Relative			marbas	marbmae		marbtae	marbthar	marbtar

Imperfect indicative

1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
·marbainn	·marbtha	·marbad	·marbmais	·marbthae	·marbtais	·marbthae	·marbtais

Imperative

2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
marb	marbad	marbam	marbaid	marbat	marbthar	marbtar

The letter ⟨t⟩ stands for /d/ in all third-person plural and passive plural endings.

See Appendix:Old Irish delenition for the change of ending-initial ⟨th⟩ to ⟨t⟩ after certain consonants.

In some cases, a vowel is inserted (historically speaking, fails to be deleted) before consonant-initial endings. This vowel is found especially after stems ending in a consonant cluster that cannot be followed by a third consonant, and after stems ending in one of the dental obstruents /t d θ ð/, but it also sometimes found in other cases. When this vowel appears, the initial consonant of the ending is in most cases palatalized. In addition, a consonant cluster that cannot end a word is broken up by an epenthetic vowel in the second-person singular imperative. An example is láthraid (“to arrange”):

Present indicative

	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
Absolute	láthru / láthraim	láthrai	láthraid	láthraimmi	láthraithe	láthrait	láthraithir	láthraitir
Conjunct	·láthru / ·láthraim	·láthrai	·láthra	·láthram	·láthraid	·láthrat	·láthrathar	·láthratar
Relative			láthras	láthraimme		láthraite	láthrathar	láthratar

Imperfect indicative

1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
·láthrainn	·láthratha	·láthrad	·láthraimmis	·láthraithe	·láthraitis	·láthraithe	·láthraitis

Imperative

2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
láthar	láthrad	láthram	láthraid	láthrat	láthrathar	láthratar

Deponent endings

A sample verb for this class is molaidir (“to praise”). The endings are as follows:

Present indicative

	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
Absolute*	molur	molthar	molthair	molmair	molthae	moltair	molthair	moltair
Conjunct	·molur	·molthar	·molthar	·molmar	·molaid	·moltar	·molthar	·moltar
Relative			molthar	molmar		moltar	molthar	moltar
*In practice, A I deponent verbs almost always use nondeponent endings in the absolute inflection.

Imperfect indicative

1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
·molainn	·moltha	·molad	·molmais	·molthae	·moltais	·molthae	·moltais

Imperative

2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
molthae	molad	molam	molaid	moltar	molthar	moltar

Here again, certain consonant clusters take a vowel before consonant-initial endings, e.g. labraithir (“to speak”):

Present indicative

	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
Absolute*	labrur	labraither	labraithir	labraimmir	labraithe	labraitir	labraithir	labraitir
Conjunct	·labrur	·labraither	·labrathar	·labrammar	·labraid	·labratar	·labrathar	·labratar
Relative			labrathar	labrammar		labratar	labrathar	labratar
*In practice, A I deponent verbs almost always use nondeponent endings in the absolute inflection.

Imperfect indicative

1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
·labrainn	·labratha	·labrad	·labraimmis	·labraithe	·labraitis	·labraithe	·labraitis

Imperative

2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive singular	Passive plural
labraithe	labrad	labram	labraid	labratar	labrathar	labratar

Further reading

• McCone, Kim (1997) The Early Irish Verb (Maynooth Monographs 1), 2nd edition, Maynooth: An Sagart, →ISBN, page 27
• Strachan, John, Bergin, Osborn (1949) Old-Irish Paradigms and Selections from the Old-Irish Glosses, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, →ISBN, pages 34–43
• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, pages 352–79; reprinted 2017