tosach

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish tosach (“beginning”), from Proto-Celtic *towissākos, from either Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- (“lead”) or *weyd- (“know, see”). Akin to taoiseach. Compare Scottish Gaelic toiseach/tòisich.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /t̪ˠəˈsˠɑx/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈt̪ˠɔsˠəx/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈt̪ˠʌsˠa(h)/

Noun

tosach m (genitive singular tosaigh, nominative plural tosaigh)

1. beginning, commencement

   Synonym: tús

   Tosach sláinte codladh. (proverb)

   Sleep is the first sign of recovery.

2. front, front end
3. (nautical) bow (of a boat)
4. face (of a building etc.)

   Synonyms: éadan, aghaidh

5. the lead (in a race etc.)

Declension

Declension of tosach (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative tosach tosaigh vocative a thosaigh a thosacha genitive tosaigh tosach dative tosach tosaigh forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an tosach na tosaigh genitive an tosaigh na dtosach dative leis an tosach don tosach leis na tosaigh

Derived terms

• chun tosaigh (“(facing) forward(s)”)
• i dtosach (“in the beginning, in the front”)
• ó thosach (“from the beginning; at the beginning”)
• tosaí (“forward, striker (in football)”)
• urthosach (“very beginning; forefront, van”)

 

Mutation

Mutated forms of tosach

radical	lenition	eclipsis
tosach	thosach	dtosach

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

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “tosaċ”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 747<
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “tosach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• tossach

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *towissākos, from either Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- (“lead”) or *weyd- (“know, see”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtosax]

Noun

tosach n (genitive tosaig, nominative plural tosge)

1. beginning

Inflection

Neuter o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	tosachN	tosachN	tosachL, tosge
Vocative	tosachN	tosachN	tosachL, tosge
Accusative	tosachN	tosachN	tosachL, tosge
Genitive	tosaigL	tosach	tosachN
Dative	tosuchL	toschib	toschib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• ar thosuch
• i tosuch

Descendants

• Irish: tosach
• Manx: toshiaght
• Scottish Gaelic: toiseach

Mutation

Mutation of tosach

radical	lenition	nasalization
tosach	thosach	tosach pronounced with /d(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), “tosach”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language