cían

See also: Appendix:Variations of "cian"

Old Irish

FWOTD – 11 December 2021

Alternative forms

• cén

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *keinos. The noun is a feminine substantivization of the adjective.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kʲiːa̯n]

Adjective

cían

1. far, distant

   Antonym: ocus

2. long-lasting

For quotations using this term, see Citations:cían.

Declension

o/ā-stem

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	cían	cían	cían
vocative	céin* cían**
accusative	cían	céin
genitive	céin	céine	céin
dative	cían	céin	cían
plural	masculine	feminine/neuter
nominative	céin	cíana
vocative	cíanu cíana†
accusative	cíanu cíana†
genitive	cían
dative	cíanaib

*modifying a noun whose vocative is different from its nominative
**modifying a noun whose vocative is identical to its nominative
† not when substantivized

Noun

cían f

1. a long (period of) time

Declension

Feminine ā-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	cíanL	céinL	cíanaH
vocative	cíanL	céinL	cíanaH
accusative	céinN	céinL	cíanaH
genitive	céineH	cíanL	cíanN
dative	céinL	cíanaib	cíanaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• cach la céin (“at one time”)
• céin (“since”, conjunction)
• íar céin (“after a while”)
• in céin (“since”, conjunction)
• in céin n-aili (“at another time”)
• ó chéin (“from long ago”)

Descendants

• Middle Irish: cían
  • Irish: cian
  • Scottish Gaelic: cian

Mutation

Mutation of cían

radical	lenition	nasalization
cían	chían	cían pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cían”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ˈθian/ [ˈθi.ãn]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /ˈsian/ [ˈsi.ãn]
• Rhymes: -ian
• Syllabification: cí‧an

Verb

cían

1. third-person plural present indicative of ciar