dofil

Old Irish

Etymology

From to- +‎ Proto-Celtic *wele (“see!”), imperative of Proto-Celtic *weleti (“to see”). The verb also survives in the present conjunct of at·tá, ·fil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [doˈɸʲilʲ]

Verb

do·fil

1. to be at hand, be approaching, be on one's way (with the subject of the English verb expressed as the direct object)
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 4^d29

     .i. do·fil Crist cona soscelu.

     Christ is at hand with His gospel.

   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 26^a1

     .i. ci as·berat do·feil laa ṁbrátha.

     i.e. though they say Doomsday is at hand.

   • c. 700–800 Táin Bó Cúailnge, published in Táin Bó Cúailnge. Recension I (1976, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Cecile O'Rahilly, TBC-I 1147

     To·t(h)ét Cú Chulaind co mboí oc Áth Chruind ara cind. "A popa Lóig," olsé fria araid, "do·fil na sluagu dún."

     Cú Chulainn came to meet them at Áth Chruind. "[Master] Lóeg," he said to his charioteer, "the armies are coming to us."

   • c. 850-900, Scéla Cano meic Gartnáin, published in "Scéla Cano Meic Gartnáin: A study and translation" (2013, Utrecht University), edited and with translations by Anouk Nuyten, section 7

     "Ní "cid" maith", ol Cano; "do·filter c(h)uca(i)nd diar marbad in lín atám."

     "'What' is not a good [answer]," said Cano. "[People] are on their way to us, to kill us — the whole party of us.

Usage notes

Like ·fil, any incoming people are inflected in the accusative case. When they are represented by a pronoun, an infixed pronoun is used on the verb.

Inflection

Only do·fil and an impersonal passive do·filter exist. Etymologically, do·fil is a 2nd-person singular imperative. However, this verb has no prototonic forms, unlike other verbs with imperatives.

Descendants

• Middle Irish: do·fil

Further reading

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