322. Masculine and feminine. Paradigms: traig (fem. in Mod. Ir.) 'foot', fili masc. 'poet', teng(a)e masc. (later fem., but cp. gen. in tengad Ml. 31b24) 'tongue', oíntu masc. 'unity'.
SINGULAR
NV traig fili teng (a )e oíntu
A tra (i )gid,
traig filid teng (a )id oínt (a )id, oíntu
G tra (i )ged filed tengad oíntad
D tra (i )gid,
traig filid teng (a )id oíntuoínt (a )id
PLURAL
N tra (i )gid filid teng (a )id
V (rigthe,
§ 323, 1) (ascadu?, § 316)
A traigthea fileda tengtha
G tra (i )ged filed tengad
D traigthib filed (a )ib tength (a )ib
DUAL
NA tra (i )gid filid teng (a )id
G tra (i )ged filed tengad
D traigthib filed (a )ib tength (a )ib
It may be noted that in the largest class, nouns with nom. sg. in -tu, the ending of the dat. sg. is usually -tu, in Wb., -t(a)id being less frequent, whereas in Ml. the converse is found. The spread of the acc. pl. to the nom. pl. is shown in tengtha Fél. Epil. 125, and cinnta Ml. 62d5 beside cinaid from cin masc. 'fault' (stem *cinuth-).In composition either the stem or the nominative form may be used: traiged-dub 'black-
footed' beside traig-lethan 'broad-footed'.323. There are various forms of the nom. sg. In the acc. dat. pl. unsyncopated forms are sometimes found.
1. Nom. sg. without ending, like traig, e.g.
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cing masc. 'hero', gen. cinged cingeth (acc. dat. pl. not attested). eirr masc. 'chariot-fighter', gen. erred, dat. pl. erred(a)ib erreth(a)ib. geir fem. 'tallow, suet', gen. gered gereth.
míl masc. 'soldier', gen. míled, dat. pl. míled(a)ib (but mílte 'military service').
rig fem. 'forearm, wrist', gen. riged, nom. du. rigid, voc. pl. (late) a rigthe (Zu ir. Hss. I. 70 § 183).
ap abb masc. 'abbot', gen. apad, dat. pl. apth(a)ib.
cin masc. 'fault, liability', acc. sg. cin(a)id and cin ; acc. pl. cin(n)ta, dat. cintaib. druí masc. 'wizard', gen. druad, nom. du. druith.
suí masc. 'sage', gen. suad, dat. pl. suidib (probably = suídib); similarly duí 'simpleton'.
*îi (monosyll., Mid.Ir. aí ) fem. 'poetic art. metrical composition', acc. uith, gen. pl. uath uad.
cré fem. 'clay', acc. dat. crieid (cried), gen. criad; cp. W. pridd, Bret. pri. dé fem. 'smoke', gen. diad; cp. Mid. Ir. dethach 'smoke, vapour'.
luch fem. 'mouse', acc. dat. lochaid, gen. lochad, acc. pl. lochtha.
The change of vowel is peculiar, as the original stem is lukot-; cp. W. llygod Bret. logod 'mice', Gaul. Lucotios, Λουκοτικνος. The primary form of the nom. sg. is not clear; -ōts or -ōt would have given -u, and from ŏts *loch might have been expected. Perhaps it had been attracted to the feminine u-
stems (-ŭs instead of -ōs).
2. Nom. sg. in -i, like fili (cp. Ogam gen. sg. VELITAS Macal. no. 70), e.g.
oígi óegi masc. 'guest', gen. oíged, acc. pl. oígetha Wb. 28d28 (oígedacht 'hospitality' 26b24).
3. Nom. sg. in -e, like teng(a)e, e.g. asc(a)e 'rival', gen. ascad, dat. pl. ascad(a)ib (voc. pl. ascadu? see § 316).
ar(a)e 'charioteer', acc. arith araid; acc. pl. later aradu for O.Ir. -ada.
tene masc. 'fire', gen. tened, dat. tenid, ten Ml. 31d4 (read tein as in later examples), dat. pl.
tein(n)tib.
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It is doubtful if dat. tein is a short form from the stem teneth-, for in the language of poetry at least there is a noun ten, which also occurs in composition: ten-lach 'hearth' (beside tene-folt 'fire- hair'); cp. W. and Bret. tan 'fire'. For nom. pl. tainid Ml. 96c11 see § 83 a.
nie, later nia, masc. 'sister's son', gen. niath niad, arch. nieth AU. 692 (plural not attested). Since the stem was originally *nepot- -pōt-, the -e- cannot be old, but must be borrowed from other
stems. The homonym nie (Corm. 973) nia 'champion' is still nio in Cath-nio AU. 769 and Mac-nio 779. In Ogam inscriptions the gen. is NIOTTA NIOTT and -NETAS NETTA; in the literature nioth niod, niath niad, and neth nad (as proclitic form in proper names).
4. Nom. sg. in -u, like oíntu, e.g. all abstracts in -tu -thu (§ 258). Further:
bibdu 'culprit, defendant', gen. bibdad, nom. pl. bibd(a)id. coimdiu masc. 'lord, (the) Lord', acc. dat. coimdid, gen. coimded.
rú 'reddening, plant for red dye' (Laws, Corm. 532), dat. roid, originally belonged here, but later changed its declension (gen. roide instead of *rod.)
For the flexion of gléo 'fight', gen. gliad and glee, see ZCP. XX. 364 ff. X. STEMS IN -t (= -dd < -nt)
324. Probably all three genders.
Paradigms: car(a)e masc. 'friend', fiche masc. 'twenty', dét neut. 'tooth'.
SINGULAR
masc. masc. neut.
N car (a )e fiche dét
V car (a )e dét
A car (a )it fichit dét
G carat fichet dét
D car (a )it fichit déit
PLURAL
N car (a )it fichit dét
V cairtea -dea (§ 316)
A cairtea -dea fichtea dét
G carat fichet dét
D cairtib -dib fichtib dét (a )ib
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NA car (a )it fichit
G carat fichet
D cairtib -dib fichtib
For later -a beside -ae see § 99. Voc. sg. a dét occurs ZCP. X. 41, 20.Composition form: carat-nám(a)e 'enemy who pretends to be a friend', cp. Wb. 23c28; dét-bán 'white-toothed'.325. There are very few examples of the neuter: in addition to dét, poetic lóchet lóchat, gen. lóchet, 'flash, lightning'; cp. also lethet, lagat (§ 259, 6), and the diminutives in -nat (§ 273).
Beside nom. acc. pl. dét later also déta; the dat. sg. dét Ml. 117d5 (beside déit Sg. 67b10) is a faulty
spelling (§ 86).
326. The nominative sg. masc. (and fem.) has various endings: 1. -e as in care carae, e.g.
nám(a)e masc. 'enemy'. brág(a)e (later fem.) 'throat'.
doë 'upper arm', acc. sg. doit, gen. pl. doat. This seems to have been already fem. in O.Ir., cp. nom. du. di dóit (rhyme: cóic,) Corm. 398.
ainmne (gender uncertain), 'patience', gen. ainmnet, (ainmnetea gl. patientias Ml. 99a5 is an
artificial formation). 2. -o -a, e.g.
tricho tricha 'thirty', gen. trichot trichat; cethorcho 'forty' gen. cethorchat, pl. nom. cethorchuit, acc. cethorchota, and the other multiples of ten (§ 390).
fíado ( Thes. II. 353, 1), fíada (Fél., etc.) '(the) Lord', arch. fēda (Cam.), gen. fíadat (fēdot Cam.), dat. fíadait.
cano -a 'poet of the fourth grade', gen. canat. 3. -u: dínu 'agna' Sg. 49a1, dat. dínit 39b11.
With regard to 1. cp. Gallo-Lat. Carantius Carantillus, W. breuant brefant 'windpipe'; -ant-s (nom. sg.) has become -e, just as -ant- becomes -ēd(d)-
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(§ 208). The neutral quality of the r in carae may have been taken over from car(a)id 'loves', or may be due to the influence of námae (§ 166). In 2. we have stems in -ont-; cp. Bret. tregont = Ir. tricho, also Lat. dat. Nodonti CIL VII. 138 (beside Nodenti, gen. Nodentis, ibid. 140), Ir. nom. Núado -a; thus -ont-s had become -ōs, whence O.Ir. -o, -a. The ending -u is found rather early in place of -o, e.g. fíadu Thes. II. 351, 3; it is uncertain whether this is due to faulty spelling or to analogy with other masculine nouns in -u (§§ 323, 4; 330).
In táith táid 'thief', gen. táthat (ZCP. XV. 318 § 11) later tádat (Laws), dat. pl. táitib, this flexion is secondary, since the word was originally an istem, cp. O.Slav. tatϭ and the Ir. abstr. tá(i)the táide.
XI. n-STEMS