doseinn

Old Irish

Etymology

From to- +‎ seinnid (“to strike, to play (an instrument)”). The latter meaning can also have played a role in the derivation, namely "to hunt" < "to sound the dogs", as hunting was often done with dogs. This is evinced by the meaning "to bark" which developed in Middle Irish.

Verb

do·seinn

1. to pursue, to hunt
   • Broccán's Hymn, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. 2, p. 342

     As·rir in sinnach n-allaid do ráith a aithig in trúaig: dochum feda con·selai cé do·sefnatar int slúaig.

     She gave the wild fox to her vassal, the wretched one; it went to the woods, although the host chased after it.

   • c. 775, “Táin Bó Fraích”, in Book of Leinster; republished as Ernst Windisch, editor, Táin bó Fraích, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1974, line 53:

     Do·sennat na secht n-aige do Ráith Chrúachan, ⁊ secht sinnchu ⁊ secht míla maige ⁊ secht turcu alta, conda·rubatar ind óic issind aurlaind in dúine.

     [The hounds] chase the seven deer to Ráith Chrúachan, in addition to seven foxes, seven hares, and seven wild boars, until the youths struck down [the hunted animals] in the lawn of the fort.

Inflection

Complex, class B I present, reduplicated preterite, s future, s subjunctive

		1st sg	2nd sg	3rd sg	1st pl	2nd pl	3rd pl	passive sg	passive pl
present indicative	deut.			do·seinn			dum·sennat (with infixed pronoun m-)	do·sennar	do·sennaiter
	prot.
imperfect indicative	deut.			du·senned				du·sente
	prot.
preterite	deut.			dunda·sepfainn (with infixed pronoun da-); do·sephainn			do·sefnatar
	prot.						·tafnetar		·tosessa
perfect	deut.						dot·roiphnetar (with infixed pronoun t-)
	prot.
future	deut.	do·sifius		dos·sib (with infixed pronoun s-)
	prot.
conditional	deut.
	prot.
present subjunctive	deut.	du·sésa					do·séset
	prot.
past subjunctive	deut.	du·sésainn						dot·séstae (with infixed pronoun t-)
	prot.
imperative			·toibhned
verbal noun		tofond
past participle
verbal of necessity

Descendants

• Middle Irish: tafnid (“to bark”)
  • ⇒ Irish: tafann

Further reading

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