Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/-tis

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.

Proto-Celtic

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *-tis (action/abstract noun suffix).

Suffix

*-tis f

1. Forms action nouns from verb stems.

   ‎*sagyeti (“to seek”) + ‎*-tis → ‎*sagyetis (“seeking”)

Usage notes

• There seem to be two layers of *-tis action nouns:
  • An archaic inherited layer where the suffix attached directly to the root, more commonly in the zero grade (as in *britis) but also in the e-grade (as in *gentis).
  • A later layer which had the suffix attach to the present stem of verbs. This layer yielded *sagyetis (> *sagitis, whence Old Irish saigid (noun), from *sagyeti) and Gaulish baditis (“water lily”) from *bādīti (“to submerge, drown”).
• This suffix became completely unproductive in Insular Celtic (it survived better in Gaulish). The related suffix *-tiyū survived in Irish, however. Competitor *-tā can be already seen in Old Irish and medieval Brittonic fighting with *-tis for scraps of territory (like in *butis, *butā (“being”) and *britis, *britā, *bertā (“carrying”)).

Inflection

Masculine/feminine i-stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*-tis	*-tī	*-tīs
vocative	*-ti	*-tī	*-tīs
accusative	*-tim	*-tī	*-tims
genitive	*-teis	*-tyow	*-tyom
dative	*-tei	*-tibom	*-tibos
locative	*-tei	*?	*?
instrumental	*-tī	*-tibim	*-tibis

Derived terms

Proto-Celtic terms suffixed with *-tis

Related terms

• *-atis
• *-tiyū