ucht

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish ucht (“breast”), from Proto-Celtic *ɸextus, from Proto-Indo-European *peg- (“breast”) (compare Latin pectus).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ʊxt̪ˠ/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ɔxt̪ˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ʌxt̪ˠ/
• Homophone: ocht (Connacht)

Noun

ucht m (genitive singular uchta, nominative plural uchtanna)

1. chest
2. breast, bosom
3. lap

Declension

Declension of ucht (third declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative ucht uchtanna vocative a ucht a uchtanna genitive uchta uchtanna dative ucht uchtanna forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an t-ucht na huchtanna genitive an uchta na n-uchtanna dative leis an ucht don ucht leis na huchtanna

Derived terms

• as ucht (“for the sake of, on account of, on behalf of”)
• in ucht (“facing, in face of”)
• le hucht (“in front of, before, in anticipation of”)
• móruchtúil (“stout-hearted, courageous”)
• uchtach (“breastplate; pectoral; chest-protector, plastron”)
• uchtach (“pectoral”)
• uchtaigh (“adopt”, verb)
• uchtán (“load carried between arms and chest, armful; lapful”)
• uchtbhalla (“parapet”)
• uchtbharr (“parapet”)
• uchtbhorrthóir (“chest-expander”)
• uchtdruilire (“breast-drill”)
• uchtleanbh (“adopted child”)
• uchtmhac (“adopted son”)
• uchtóg (“armful; small heap; rise (in ground); bump (in road)”)
• uchtphláta (“breastplate”)
• uchtráille (“breastwork”)
• uchtúil (“full-chested; courageous”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of ucht

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
ucht	n-ucht	hucht	t-ucht

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

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ucht”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *ɸuxtu, of uncertain further etymology. It can be related to Latin pectus (“breast”), but it requires that the Celtic form contain an irregular assimilation of the first vowel from *e to *u. Alternatively, it can be connected to Latvian pups (“teat, nipple”), but Matasović declares this less probable.

Noun

ucht n or m

1. breast, bosom

Declension

Neuter u-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	uchtN	uchtL	ochtL, ochta
vocative	uchtN	uchtL	ucht
accusative	uchtN	uchtL	ucht
genitive	ochtoH, ochtaH	ochtoN, ochtaN	ochtN
dative	uchtL	ochtaib	ochtaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

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

Masculine u-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	ucht	uchtL	ochtae
vocative	ucht	uchtL	uchtu
accusative	uchtN	uchtL	uchtu
genitive	ochtoH, ochtaH	ochto, ochta	ochtaeN
dative	uchtL	ochtaib	ochtaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

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

Descendants

• Middle Irish: ucht
  • Irish: ucht
  • Manx: ught
  • Scottish Gaelic: uchd

Mutation

Mutation of ucht

radical	lenition	nasalization
ucht (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)	unchanged	n-ucht

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), “ucht”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language