ainb
Old Irish
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Proto-Celtic *an- (“un-”) + *wids (root noun), literally “lacking knowledge” (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”)). Ainb was an irregular consonant-stem adjective during the eighth century, but by the ninth-century Milan glosses it had become an i-stem.
Adjective
[edit]ainb
Inflection
[edit]The inflection as attested in the Milan glosses was:
| i-stem | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nominative | ainb | ainb | ainb |
| Vocative | ainb | ||
| Accusative | ainb | ainb | |
| Genitive | ainb | ainbe | ainb |
| Dative | ainb | ainb | ainb |
| Plural | Masculine | Feminine/neuter | |
| Nominative | ainbi | ainbi | |
| Vocative | ainbi | ||
| Accusative | ainbi | ||
| Genitive | ainb* ainbe | ||
| Dative | ainbib | ||
| Notes | *not when substantivized | ||
However, the irregular genitive singular ainbfeth is also attested in Bretha Nemed law tracts. It has also appeared, corrupted, in the form anfeich.
Related terms
[edit]- ainfis (“ignorance”)
Mutation
[edit]| radical | lenition | nasalization |
|---|---|---|
| ainb (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments) |
unchanged | n-ainb |
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Further reading
[edit]- Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ainb”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language