Old Irish was affected by a series of phonological changes that radically altered its appearance compared with Proto-Celtic and older Celtic languages (such as Gaulish, which still had the appearance of typical early Indo-European languages such as Latin or Ancient Greek). The changes occurred at a fairly rapid pace between 350 and 550 CE.[1]
A capsule summary of the most important changes is (in approximate order):[2]
They led to the following effects:
The following are some examples of changes between Primitive Irish and Old Irish.
| Primitive Irish | Old Irish | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| {{sm|inigena | Irish, Old (to 900);: ingen | daughter | |
| {{sm|qrimitir | Irish, Old (to 900);: cruimther | priest | |
| {{sm|maqqi | Irish, Old (to 900);: maicc | son (gen.) | |
| {{sm|velitas | Irish, Old (to 900);: filed | poet (gen.) | |
| {{sm|Lugudeccas | Irish, Old (to 900);: Luigdech | genitive of Lug(u)id (name) | |
| {{sm|Anavlamattias | Irish, Old (to 900);: Anfolmithe | genitive of Anblamath (name) | |
| {{sm|Coillabotas | Irish, Old (to 900);: Coílbad | genitive of name |
These various changes, especially syncope, produced quite complex allomorphy, because the addition of prefixes or various pre-verbal particles (proclitics) in Proto-Celtic changed the syllable containing the stress: According to the Celtic variant of Wackernagel's law, the stress fell on the second syllable of the verbal complex, including any prefixes and clitics. By the Old Irish period, most of this allomorphy still remained, although it was rapidly eliminated beginning in the Middle Irish period.
Among the most striking changes are in prefixed verbs with or without pre-verbal particles. With a single prefix and without a proclitic, stress falls on the verbal root, which assumes the deuterotonic ("second-stressed") form. With a prefix and also with a proclitic, stress falls on the prefix, and the verb assumes the prototonic ("first-stressed") form. Rather extreme allomorphic differences can result:
| Celtic languages: ess-bero(n)t < PIE *-bʰeronti | Irish, Old (to 900);: as·berat pronounced as //as-ˈbʲerəd// | they say | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní-epretpronounced as / /Nʲiː-ˈhebrʲəd// | they do not say | |
| Celtic languages: cum-uss-ana | Irish, Old (to 900);: con·osna | he rests | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní-cumsana | he does not rest | |
| Celtic languages: de-ro-uss-scochi | Irish, Old (to 900);: do·rósc(a)i | he surpasses | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní-derscaigi | he does not surpass | |
| Celtic languages: de-lugi < PIE *-logʰeyeti | Irish, Old (to 900);: do·lug(a)i | he pardons | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní-dílg(a)i | he does not pardon | |
| Celtic languages: de-ro-gn... | Irish, Old (to 900);: do·róna | he may do | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní-derna | he may not do |
The following table shows how these forms might have been derived:
| Post-PIE | eks bʰeronti | nē eks bʰeronti | kom uks h₂eneh₂ti | nē kom uks h₂eneh₂ti | dē pro uks skokeyeti | nē dē pro uks skokeyeti | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proto-Celtic | eks ˈberonti | nī ˈeks-beronti | kom ˈuks-anāti | nī ˈkom-uks-anāti | dī ˈɸro-uks-skokīti | nī ˈdī-ɸro-uks-skokīti | |
| Early Irish | ess-es ˈberont | ní-s ˈess-beront | kon-es ˈuss-anát | ní-s ˈkom-uss-anát | dí-s ˈro-uss-skokít | ní-s ˈdi-ro-uss-skokít | |
| Nasal assimilation | ess-es ˈberodd | ní-s ˈess-berodd | — | — | — | — | |
| Lenition | es-eh ˈberod | Ní-h ˈes-berod | kon-eh ˈus-anáθ | Ní-h ˈkow̃-us-anáθ | dí-h ˈRo-us-skoxíθ | Ní-h ˈdi-ro-us-skoxíθ | |
| Palatalization | es-eh ˈbʲerod | Nʲí-h ˈes-bʲerod | — | Nʲí-h ˈkow̃-us-anáθ | dʲí-h ˈRo-us-skoxʲíθ | Nʲí-h ˈdʲi-ro-us-skoxʲíθ | |
| Hiatus reduction | — | — | — | — | dʲí-h ˈRós-skoxʲíθ | Nʲí-h ˈdʲi-rós-skoxʲíθ | |
| Umlaut (vowel affection) | — | — | kon-eh ˈos-anáθ | Nʲí-h ˈkuw̃-us-anáθ | — | Nʲí-h ˈdʲe-rós-skoxʲíθ | |
| Shortening of absolutely final vowel | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Loss/assimilation of final consonant(s) | es-e bʲ-ˈbʲerod | Nʲí h-ˈes-bʲerod | kon-e h-ˈos-aná | Nʲí k-ˈkuw̃-us-aná | dʲí R-ˈRós-skoxʲí | Nʲí d-ˈdʲe-rós-skoxʲí | |
| Mora reduction in unstressed final vowel | es bʲ-ˈbʲerod | — | kon h-ˈos-ana | Nʲí k-ˈkuw̃-us-ana | dʲí R-ˈRós-skoxʲi | Nʲí d-ˈdʲe-rós-skoxʲi | |
| Consonant assimilation | es ˈbʲerod | Nʲí h-ˈebʲ-bʲerod | — | — | — | — | |
| Syncope | es ˈbʲerod | Nʲí h-ˈebʲbʲrod | kon h-ˈosna | Nʲí k-ˈkuw̃sana | dʲí R-ˈRósskxʲi | Nʲíd-ˈdʲersskoxʲi | |
| Further consonant assimilation | — | Nʲí h-ˈebʲbʲrʲod | kon ˈosna | — | dʲí R-ˈRósski | Nʲíd-ˈdʲerskoxʲi | |
| Unstressed vowel reduction | es ˈbʲerəd | Nʲí h-ˈebʲbʲrʲəd | — | Nʲí k-ˈkuw̃səna | di R-ˈRósski | Nʲí d-ˈdʲerskəxʲi | |
| Prepositional modification | as ˈbʲerəd | — | — | — | do R-ˈRósski | — | |
| Geminate reduction (non-vocalic-adjacent); sandhi geminate reduction | as·ˈbʲerəd | Nʲíh-ˈebrʲəd | kon·ˈosna | Nʲí-ˈkuw̃səna | do·ˈRóski | Nʲí-ˈdʲerskəxʲi | |
| Fricative voicing between unstressed syllables | — | — | — | — | — | Nʲíd-ˈdʲerskəɣʲi | |
| Old Irish pronunciation | as·ˈbʲerəd | Nʲí-h-ˈebrʲəd | kon·ˈosna | Nʲí-ˈkuw̃səna | do·ˈRóski | Nʲí-ˈdʲerskəɣʲi | |
| Old Irish spelling | Irish, Old (to 900);: as·berat | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní-epret | Irish, Old (to 900);: con·osna | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní-(c)cumsana | Irish, Old (to 900);: do·rósc(a)i | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní-(d)derscaigi |
The most extreme allomorphy of all came from the third person singular of the Irish, Old (to 900);: s-subjunctive because an athematic person marker Irish, Old (to 900);: -t was used, added directly onto the verbal stem (formed by adding Irish, Old (to 900);: -s directly onto the root). That led to a complex word-final cluster, which was deleted entirely. In the prototonic form (after two proclitics), the root was unstressed and thus the root vowel was also deleted, leaving only the first consonant:
| Present Indicative | Present Subjunctive | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive (Deuterotonic) | Negative (Prototonic) | Positive (Deuterotonic) | Negative (Prototonic) | ||||||
| Primitive Irish | Old Irish | Primitive Irish | Old Irish | Primitive Irish | Old Irish | Primitive Irish | Old Irish | ||
| "he refuses" | Celtic languages: uss ˈbond-et(i) | Irish, Old (to 900);: as·boind | Celtic languages: nís ˈuss-bond-et(i) | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní op(a)ind pronounced as //obənʲdʲ// | Celtic languages: uss 'bod-s-t | Irish, Old (to 900);: as·bó | Celtic languages: nís ˈuss-bod-s-t | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní op pronounced as //ob// | |
| "he remains over" | Celtic languages: di ˈwo-uss-ret-et(i) | Irish, Old (to 900);: do·fúarat | Celtic languages: nís ˈdi-wo-uss-ret-et(i) | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní díurat | Celtic languages: di ˈwo-uss-ret-s-t | Irish, Old (to 900);: do·fúair | Celtic languages: nís ˈdi-wo-uss-ret-s-t | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní diúair | |
| "he repeats, amends" | Celtic languages: ad ˈess-reg-et(i) | Irish, Old (to 900);: ad·eirrig | Celtic languages: nís ˈ*ad-ess-reg-et(i) | (Irish, Old (to 900);: ní aithrig?? >) Irish, Old (to 900);: ní aithirrig | Celtic languages: ad ˈess-reg-s-t | Irish, Old (to 900);: ath·e(i)rr | Celtic languages: nís ˈad-ess-reg-s-t | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní aithir | |
| "he can" | Celtic languages: con ˈink-et(i) | Irish, Old (to 900);: com·ic | Celtic languages: nís ˈcom-ink-et(i) | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní cum(a)ic > Irish, Old (to 900);: ní cum(u)ing, ní cumaing | Celtic languages: con ˈink-s-t | Irish, Old (to 900);: con·í | Celtic languages: nís ˈcom-ink-s-t, Celtic languages: nís ˈcom-ink-ā-t | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní cum, Irish, Old (to 900);: ní cumai | |
| "it happens" | Celtic languages: ad ˈcom-ink-et(i) | (Irish, Old (to 900);: ad·cum(a)ic >) Irish, Old (to 900);: ad·cumaing | Celtic languages: nís ˈad-com-ink-et(i) | (Irish, Old (to 900);: ní ecm(a)ic >) Irish, Old (to 900);: ní ecmaing | Celtic languages: ad ˈcom-ink-ā-t | Irish, Old (to 900);: ad·cumai | Celtic languages: nís ˈad-com-ink-ā-t | Irish, Old (to 900);: ní ecm(a)i | |
In more detail, syncope of internal syllables involved the following steps (in approximate order):
Proto-Celtic final syllables were often reduced or deleted by Old Irish times.
Unstressed Proto-Celtic -es- became -is- early on if immediately followed by a vowel. The resulting -is- triggers i-affection on preceding stressed syllables as it evolved into *-ih- and then *-iy- in Primitive Irish before either remaining as -i or undergoing a-affection to -e by Old Irish. This raising of *-es- occurred before the early deletion of final *-i. McCone lists the following examples of this raising:
The absolute-conjunct distinction in Old Irish non-prefixed verbs is generally explained via the apocope of final *-i in multiple Indo-European primary person-number endings that ended in *-i. This normally happens in the conjunct forms, while in the absolute forms the apocope was blocked due to a succeeding enclitic element.[3] Contrast:
The identification of the enclitic that was used to create Old Irish's absolute verb forms has been subject to controversy. At first, Warren Cowgill and Frederik Kortlandt supposed that the protective enclitic was a particle derived from Celtic languages: *est(i) "is". The current mainstream explanation, pioneered by Peter Schrijver in the 1990s, identifies this particle as derived from Indo-European languages: *éti "beyond", cognate to Latin Latin: et "and". Kim McCone on the other hand refuses to identify any specific particle responsible.
The environment of final i-deletion is also controversial. McCone believes that all final *-i was lost by default, while Schrijver limits the apocope to just after *t, *s and also *k.[4]
After the lenition of post-vocalic consonants in unstressed syllables and the apocope of -i, an early Primitive Irish syncope occurred to vowels between two dental fricatives or two rhotics in final unstressed syllables preceded by another unstressed syllable. For dental fricatives, the result of their collision due to the syncope was originally pronounced as /lang=sga/ but would then become pronounced as /lang=sga/ due to a later voicing in the same environment as the syncope.[5] On the other hand, collision of two rhotics over this syncope would result in unlenited rhotic rr. Unlike the main early Irish syncope, this syncope could never palatalise the resulting consonant produced by the collision of involved continuants, no matter what vowel was between them. Instances of this syncope include:
McCone envisions the evolution of final syllables across Primitive Irish into Old Irish as follows.
Proto-Celtic unstressed long vowels were shortened unless protected by a following Primitive Irish final *-h, whether that *-h came from a final -s (as in several nominal inflectional endings) or -ti (as in 3rd-person singular present forms of verbs). These shortened long vowels included the feminine ā-stem nominative singular ending *-ā and the masculine and neuter o-stem ending *-ī.
Then, absolutely word-final -h, vowels, and nasals caused initial mutations if possible, possibly by resegmentation onto the following word. Any remaining final-syllable short vowels, -h, and nasals after this stage are deleted, while remaining final long vowels (which were subsequently shortened in Old Irish) remained. It is also apparent in Ogham inscriptions that final-syllable Proto-Celtic *o had become *a by Primitive Irish before its loss.
In the following table, the cover symbol C refers to any consonant.
| Proto-Celtic ending | Pre-Irish stages | Old Irish outcome | Function | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -Cos | -Cah (no mutation) | -C | nominative singular ending of masculine o-stems and neuter s-stems, genitive singular ending of consonant stems | |
| -Com | -Can (triggers nasalization) | -C | nominative and accusative singular ending of neuter o-stems, accusative singular of masculine o-stems, genitive plural for all declension classes | |
| -Cā | -Ca (with shortening, triggers lenition) | -C | nominative singular ending of feminine ā-stems | |
| -Cās | -Cāh (without shortening) | -Ca | nominative plural of feminine ā-stems | |
| -Cams | -Cās > -Cāh (without shortening) | -Ca | accusative plural of consonant stems | |
| -Cāti | -Cāt (special loss of final -i in verbs) > -Cāθ > -Cāh (without shortening) | -Ca | conjunct 3rd-person singular ending for the presents of A I verbs | |
| -Cai | -Cī > -Ci (with shortening, triggers lenition) | -Cʲ | dative singular of ā-stems | |
| -Cis | -Cih | -Cʲ | nominative singular for i-stems | |
| -Cīs | -Cīh (without shortening) | -C(ʲ)i | nominative plural for i-stems | |
| -Cī | -Ci (with shortening) | -Cʲ | genitive singular ending of o-stems, nominative plural of masculine o-stems, nominative singular of feminine ī-stems | |
| -Cūs | -Cūh (without shortening) | -Cu | accusative plural ending for masculine o-stems | |
| -Cūi | -Cū > -Cu (with shortening, triggers lenition) | -(u)C | dative singular for o-stems | |
| -Cus | -Cuh | -(u)C | nominative singular for u-stems | |
| -Cous | -Cōs > -ōh (without shortening, no mutation) | -Co | genitive singular ending of u-stems |
After the general final-syllable deletion processes, newly word-final consonant clusters ending in sonorant consonants like liquids and nasals in early Irish that were not simplified with compensatory lengthening gained a schwa between the sonorant and the rest of the cluster. The schwa was often rendered with rounded vowel letters like o or u in early texts if next to a labial consonant. For instance:
Dental obstruents pronounced as /lang=sga/ were voiced in word-initial and word-final unstressed syllables, in addition to between two unstressed syllables. This wave of voicing is also believed to underlie the voicing of t- to d- in proclitics.[5]
Happening along with the voicing of dental obstruents was the voicing of f to pronounced as /lang=sga/, spelled b. The voicing of f has been believed to occur in near-identical environments to the voicing of dentals. Schrijver and McCone think the voicing of f could also happen word-finally in stressed syllables as well, but Stifter is not confident in the evidence.
Palatalised voiceless velar fricatives pronounced as /lang=sga/ became their voiced counterparts pronounced as /lang=sga/ word-finally and between unstressed vowels.
This voicing of palatalised velar fricatives created paradigmatic alternations in noun declension where final unpalatalised voiceless velar fricatives alternated with palatalised voiced velar fricatives. Occasionally, nouns originally ending in non-palatal pronounced as /lang=sga/ in their paradigms had those unpalatalised voiced velar fricatives analogically devoiced to pronounced as /lang=sga/, for instance in Irish, Old (to 900);: tech < Irish, Old (to 900);: teg < Celtic languages: *tegos "house".
Intervocalic single Proto-Celtic *-s- was lenited to -h- and then lost in the following manners:[6]
Vowels surrounding a former intervocalic -s-, a glide *w or *y, or both underwent special changes by Old Irish.
In unstressed syllables, such vowels generally fused into /e/.
All five Proto-Celtic short vowels (Celtic languages: a, Celtic languages: e, Celtic languages: i, Celtic languages: o, Celtic languages: u) survived into Primitive Irish more or less unchanged in stressed syllables.
During approximately A.D. 450-550 (just before the Old Irish period, c. 600-900), however, there occurred several vowel-changes (umlauts). Former vowels are modified in various ways depending on the following vowels (or sometimes surrounding consonants). The mutations are known in Celtic literature as affections or infections such as these, the most important ones:[7]
Nominal examples (reconstructed forms are Primitive Irish unless otherwise indicated):
Before i-affection occurred, there was also a lowering of initial-syllable Proto-Celtic e to a before palatalized reflexes of Celtic languages: *g, *gʷ, unless a pronounced as //j// followed them in the next syllable in Primitive Irish (no matter the pronounced as //j//'s origin) which would instead lead to i-affection to i. For instance, Proto-Celtic Celtic languages: *legeti-s "(s)he lies" vs. Celtic languages: *legonti-s "they lie" vs. Celtic languages: *legyom "lying" led to a three-way split in Old Irish Irish, Old (to 900);: laigid, Irish, Old (to 900);: legait, and Irish, Old (to 900);: lige respectively.
Verbal paradigm example:
| form | Pronunciation | Meaning | Prim Irish | Post-PIE | Comments | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute 1sg | Irish, Old (to 900);: biru | pronounced as //bʲiru// | "I carry" | Celtic languages: berūs | Celtic languages: bʰerō + -s | Irish, Old (to 900);: i-affection | |
| Absolute 2sg | Irish, Old (to 900);: biri | pronounced as //bʲirʲi// | "you (sg.) carry" | Celtic languages: berisis | Celtic languages: bʰeresi + -s | Irish, Old (to 900);: i-affection (unstressed *-es- > *-is- in Primitive Irish, also found in Irish, Old (to 900);: s-stems) | |
| Absolute 3sg | Irish, Old (to 900);: beirid | pronounced as //bʲerʲəðʲ// | "he carries" | Celtic languages: beretis | Celtic languages: bʰereti + -s | Unstressed Irish, Old (to 900);: i = pronounced as //ə// with surrounding palatalised consonants; see
| |
| Conjunct 1sg | Irish, Old (to 900);: ·biur | pronounced as //bʲĭŭr// | "I carry" | Celtic languages: beru < Celtic languages: berū | Celtic languages: bʰerō | Irish, Old (to 900);: i-affection + Irish, Old (to 900);: u-affection | |
| Conjunct 2sg | Irish, Old (to 900);: bir | pronounced as //bʲirʲ// | "you (sg.) carry" | Celtic languages: beris < Celtic languages: berisi | Celtic languages: bʰeresi | Irish, Old (to 900);: i-affection (unstressed *-es- > *-is- in Primitive Irish) | |
| Conjunct 3sg | Irish, Old (to 900);: beir | pronounced as //bʲerʲ// | "he carries" | Celtic languages: beret < Celtic languages: bereti | Celtic languages: bʰereti | Irish, Old (to 900);: i in Irish, Old (to 900);: ei signals palatalisation of following consonant; see
|
The result of Irish, Old (to 900);: i-affection and Irish, Old (to 900);: a-affection is that it is often impossible to distinguish whether the root vowel was originally Celtic languages: e or Celtic languages: i (Irish, Old (to 900);: sen < Celtic languages: senos and Irish, Old (to 900);: fer < Celtic languages: wiros have identical declensions). However, note the cases of Irish, Old (to 900);: nert vs. Irish, Old (to 900);: fiurt above for which Irish, Old (to 900);: i-affection, but not Irish, Old (to 900);: a-affection, was blocked by an intervening Irish, Old (to 900);: rt.
The result of u-infection of *a eventually reduced to /u/ during the Old Irish period. It does not share its later evolution with original *au, which instead became Irish, Old (to 900);: ó (or broken into Irish, Old (to 900);: úa) in Old Irish.
In addition, the u-affection of a when the u preceded a palatalized consonant originally turned the a into an pronounced as /lang=sga/, whose spelling varied among au, ai, i, e, and u depending on the scribe. pronounced as /lang=sga/ then spread to various terms prefixed with Irish, Old (to 900);: ar- "fore-" and Irish, Old (to 900);: ad- "ad-".
Stressed short front vowels in hiatus underwent a loop throughout Primitive Irish and early Old Irish in which they would repeatedly switch between i and e. McCone outlines the loop as follows:
Examples of words that went through this loop include:
Proto-Celtic *a before nasals followed by a stop manifested as the allophone pronounced as /[æ]/ in the prehistory of Irish.
Short vowels pronounced as /[æ]/ and *e, and *i regularly became e before nasals followed by originally voiceless stops, which then lengthened to Irish, Old (to 900);: é in stressed syllables.
But a different development of pronounced as /[æ]/ occurred before nasals followed by voiced stops. According to Schrijver, this pronounced as /[æ]/ became i when affected by i-affection and a when it was not.[8] McCone however instead believes that i was the default outcome of pronounced as /[æ]/ before voiced nasals unless a-affection applied, lowering it down to a. Some examples of these developments include:
Additionally, pronounced as /[æ]/ and *e were also raised to i when followed by a nasal, a voiced stop, and then either *e or a word-final *a followed by a nasal, despite those vowels not triggering i-affection.
In Primitive Irish, *a and *i were rounded to o and u respectively when preceded by Celtic labiovelars Celtic languages: *kʷ and Celtic languages: *gʷ or a consonant cluster containing them. The rounding of *i also required the following consonant to be palatalised. This rounding occurred after i-affection as Irish, Old (to 900);: ·guid "prays" (< Celtic languages: *gʷedyeti) faced rounding even though the rounded vowel was originally an *e.[9] Since Irish, Old (to 900);: ·cren "buys" (< Celtic languages: *kʷrinati) faced no rounding even though its stressed vowel was originally an *i, the rounding may also have taken place after a-affection as well, but Schrijver does not find the evidence for that to be reliable.[8]
Examples of this rounding process include:
Original *a preceded by a labiovelar consonant and followed by *n and an originally voiceless stop was rounded and then broken into Old Irish Irish, Old (to 900);: óe, oí pronounced as /lang=sga/.[10]
After a-affection occurred in Primitive Irish, dental and velar fricatives were dropped when immediately preceding a sonorant consonant, but transformed the preceding vowel into a long vowel or a diphthong. This development affected both stressed and unstressed syllables.
| Celtic languages: *ɸetnos | Celtic languages: *eθn | Irish, Old (to 900);: én | "bird" (nominative singular) |
| |
| Celtic languages: *ɸetnī | Celtic languages: *eθʲnʲ | Irish, Old (to 900);: éuin | "bird" (genitive singular) | ||
| Celtic languages: *agrom | Celtic languages: *aɣr | Irish, Old (to 900);: ár | "slaughter, carnage" | The outcome of Primitive Irish *aɣ before a sonorant contrasts with the outcome of *axr. | |
| Celtic languages: *dakru | Celtic languages: *daxr | Irish, Old (to 900);: dér | "teardrop" | Special outcome of Primitive Irish *axr. | |
| Celtic languages: *kenetlom | Celtic languages: *kʲenʲeθl | Irish, Old (to 900);: cenél | "tribe, people" | Fricative-induced lengthening also applied to unstressed syllables. | |
| Celtic languages: *kuklowe | Celtic languages: *koxlowe | Irish, Old (to 900);: cúalae | "(s)he heard" | Irish, Old (to 900);: ó created by this compensatory lengthening may break into Irish, Old (to 900);: úa. Also demonstrates how a-affection occurred before this lengthening. | |
| Celtic languages: *kikrīsonti | Celtic languages: *kixrīsod | Irish, Old (to 900);: (ara)·chíurat | "they will perish" |
|
Proto-Celtic long vowels and diphthongs develop in stressed syllables as follows:
| archaic Old Irish | later Old Irish | Example(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| *ī | Irish, Old (to 900);: í | Irish, Old (to 900);: rí (gen. Irish, Old (to 900);: ríg) "king" (cf. Latin Latin: rēx, Sanskrit) Irish, Old (to 900);: rím "number" (cf. Old English German, Old High (ca.750-1050);: rīm, Latin Latin: rītus "rite") | |
| *ā | Irish, Old (to 900);: á | Irish, Old (to 900);: máthir "mother" (cf. Latin Latin: māter) Irish, Old (to 900);: dán "gift" (cf. Latin Latin: dōnum) | |
| *ū | Irish, Old (to 900);: ú | Irish, Old (to 900);: cúl "back" (cf. Latin Latin: cūlus "ass, buttocks") | |
| Celtic languages: ai | pronounced as //ai// (spelled Irish, Old (to 900);: áe or Irish, Old (to 900);: aí) | merged (both spellings used) | Irish, Old (to 900);: cáech "one-eyed" < PC Celtic languages: kaikos < PIE Celtic languages: keh₂i-ko- (cf. Latin Latin: caecus "blind", Gothic Irish, Old (to 900);: háihs "one-eyed") |
| Celtic languages: oi | pronounced as //oi// (spelled Irish, Old (to 900);: óe or Irish, Old (to 900);: oí) | Irish, Old (to 900);: oín, Irish, Old (to 900);: óen "one" < PIE Celtic languages: oinos (cf. archaic Latin Latin: oenos) | |
| Celtic languages: ei > ē | é | ía[11] | Irish, Old (to 900);: ·tíagat "they go" < archaic Irish, Old (to 900);: ·tégot < PIE Celtic languages: steigʰ- (cf. Ancient Greek "to walk", Gothic Gothic: steigan 'to go up') |
| é[12] | Irish, Old (to 900);: ·téig "you go", also from PIE Celtic languages: steigʰ- | ||
| Celtic languages: au (+C)[13] > ō | ó | úa | Irish, Old (to 900);: úaithed, Irish, Old (to 900);: úathad "singleness" < PC Celtic languages: autīto- < IE Celtic languages: h₂eu "again" + Celtic languages: to- "that" (cf. Ancient Greek "self") |
| Celtic languages: eu/ou (+C) > ō | Irish, Old (to 900);: núa, Irish, Old (to 900);: núë "new" < archaic Irish, Old (to 900);: núae < PC Celtic languages: noujos (cf. Gaulish Irish, Old (to 900);: novios) < IE Celtic languages: neu-io-s (cf. Gothic Irish, Old (to 900);: niujis) Irish, Old (to 900);: túath "tribe, people" < PC Celtic languages: toutā < IE Celtic languages: teutā (cf. Gothic Irish, Old (to 900);: þiuda) Irish, Old (to 900);: rúad "red" < PC Celtic languages: roudos < PIE Celtic languages: h₁reudʰ- (cf. Gothic Irish, Old (to 900);: rauþs) | ||
| Celtic languages: au (not +C)[14] | áu | ó | Irish, Old (to 900);: ó "ear" < archaic Irish, Old (to 900);: áu, Irish, Old (to 900);: aue < PC Celtic languages: ausos < IE Celtic languages: h₂eus- (cf. Latin Latin: auris) Irish, Old (to 900);: nó "ship" < archaic Irish, Old (to 900);: náu < PC Celtic languages: nāwā < PIE Celtic languages: neh₂u- (cf. Latin Latin: nāvis) |
| Celtic languages: ou (not +C) | óu > áu | Irish, Old (to 900);: bó 'cow' < archaic Irish, Old (to 900);: báu < early archaic Irish, Old (to 900);: bóu (Irish, Old (to 900);: c. {{sm|a.d. 700) < PC Celtic languages: bowos (gen.sg.) < PIE Celtic languages: gʷh₃-eu- | |
The Old Irish diphthongs Irish, Old (to 900);: úi, Irish, Old (to 900);: éu, Irish, Old (to 900);: íu stem from earlier sequences of short vowels separated by *Irish, Old (to 900);: w, e.g. Irish, Old (to 900);: drúid- "druid" < Celtic languages: dru-wid- "tree-knower".
Most instances of Irish, Old (to 900);: é and Irish, Old (to 900);: ó in nonarchaic Old Irish are due to compensatory lengthening of short vowels before lost consonants or to the merging of two short vowels in hiatus: Irish, Old (to 900);: cét pronounced as //kʲeːd// 'hundred' < Proto-Celtic Irish, Old (to 900);: kantom (cf. Welsh Welsh: cant) < PIE Celtic languages: kṃtóm.
See Proto-Celtic for various changes that occurred in all the Celtic languages, but these are the most important:
From Proto-Celtic to Old Irish, the most important changes are these:
Old Irish preserves, intact, most initial clusters unlike many other Indo-European languages.
Preserved initial clusters:[7]
Modified initial clusters:[7]
The palatalized consonants arose in multiple stages.[16] [17] In theories of palatalization, the front vowels are Proto-Celtic e, ē, i and ī.
The first palatalization affected single consonants and sequences of a nasal consonant followed by a homorganic voiced stop. The palatalization depended on not only the vowel after the consonant, but also the vowel before the consonant. The following Proto-Celtic vowel setups were eligible for the first palatalization:
The first palatalization must have occurred before a-affection, because otherwise the presence of palatalization of the genitive singular of ā-stems (ending in *-iyās > *-iyāh > *-eyāh > -e) would be dependent on root shape, yet only nigh-inevitable palatalization is actually attested in such forms.
Demonstrations of the first palatalization include:
| Environment | Old Irish form | Meaning | Proto-forms | Palatalized? | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic languages: eCe | Irish, Old (to 900);: beirid | "carries" | Celtic languages: *bereti- | Led to alternation between palatalization and non-palatalization in many S1/B I verbs | |
| Irish, Old (to 900);: laigid | "lies (physically)" | Celtic languages: *legeti- | Lowering of root vowel from e to a before lenited palatalized g occurred after the first palatalization, and in this case was in fact triggered by it | ||
| Celtic languages: aCe | Irish, Old (to 900);: canaid | "sings" | Celtic languages: *kaneti- | Led to all present forms of Irish, Old (to 900);: canaid to not be palatalized except in the conjunct third-person-singular, which was affected by the second palatalization | |
| Celtic languages: āCi, Celtic languages: āCī usually | Irish, Old (to 900);: máthair | "mother" | Celtic languages: *mātīr | No palatalization in Celtic languages: āCī if no *y follows | |
| Celtic languages: āCiy | Irish, Old (to 900);: áithe | "sharpness" | Celtic languages: *ātiyā | But *āCiy leads to palatalization except if analogically removed (as is the case in W2/A II verb paradigms) | |
| Celtic languages: oCi, Celtic languages: uCi, etc. | Irish, Old (to 900);: umae | "bronze" | Celtic languages: *omiyom | No palatalization by Celtic languages: i/ī of non-coronal consonants after a rounded vowel | |
| Irish, Old (to 900);: do·lugai | "forgives" | Celtic languages: *dī-logīti | |||
| Celtic languages: oTi, Celtic languages: uTi, etc. | Irish, Old (to 900);: tuirem | "recounting" | Celtic languages: *torīmā | Palatalization of coronal consonants preceded by a rounded vowel and followed by Celtic languages: i/ī | |
| VCCV | Irish, Old (to 900);: áram | "counting" | Celtic languages: *adrīmā | No palatalization over consonant clusters not consisting of a nasal followed by a homorganic stop, even if the cluster itself fails to survive into Old Irish. | |
| Irish, Old (to 900);: erbaid | "entrusts" | Celtic languages: *erbyeti- | |||
| VNDV | Irish, Old (to 900);: sluindid | "signifies" | Celtic languages: *slondīti- | Consonant clusters consisting of a nasal followed by a homorganic stop are subject to the first palatalization according to the same rules as their corresponding lone intervocalic consonants. | |
| Irish, Old (to 900);: cingid | "steps" | Celtic languages: *kengeti- | |||
| Irish, Old (to 900);: ungae | "ounce" | Latin Latin: uncia |
After the first palatalization, another palatalization ensued. Final-syllable Primitive Irish front vowels, after merging into a "palatal schwa", forced the palatalization of any consonants preceding them except the consonant cluster cht pronounced as //xt//, which could never be palatalized. Greene labels this stage the second palatalization, while McCone treats this as a substage of the first palatalization.
The third palatalization entailed any front vowel in a second or fourth syllable of a Primitive Irish word causing the palatalization of the preceding consonants. Like with the final-syllable palatalization, these front vowels were generally assumed to merge into a palatalizing schwa before causing palatalization.
The following Primitive Irish vowels merged into the palatalizing schwa in second or fourth non-final syllables:[18]
Other vowels were reduced to non-palatalizing schwas. After syncope regularly removed these vowels, the palatalization (or lack thereof) tended to spread across the resulting consonant cluster.
However, if syncope results in a sonorant becoming surrounded by a consonant before it and a consonant after it, the effects of the third palatalization (or lack thereof) are often overridden by a special set of sound laws, presumed to be caused by the stranded sonorant assuming the role of syllable nucleus until epenthesis occurs before the sonorant.[19]
| Original Primitive Irish syllable | Old Irish outcome | Examples | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CREC | CəRʲCʲ | Irish, Old (to 900);: ·comainsea pronounced as /lang=sga/ ("spurns") < Celtic languages: *kom-ni-stāyeti | |
| CRACʲ | CəRʲCʲ | Irish, Old (to 900);: ingainnti pronounced as /lang=sga/ ("unusualness") < Celtic languages: *in-gnātiyā | |
| CERC | CəRC | Irish, Old (to 900);: sonartu pronounced as /lang=sga/ ("stronger, firmer") < Celtic languages: *su-nertyūs | |
| C(C)Eh < C(C)Es | CC | Irish, Old (to 900);: cuccu pronounced as /lang=sga/ ("to them") < Celtic languages: *kʷunkʷe sūs Irish, Old (to 900);: impu pronounced as /lang=sga/ ("around them") < Celtic languages: *ambi sūs Irish, Old (to 900);: intaml- pronounced as /lang=sga/ (prototonic stem of Irish, Old (to 900);: in·samlathar "imitates, emulates") < Celtic languages: *ande-samal- |
Lenited fricatives and pronounced as //l// straddling the boundary between a stressed syllable and an unstressed one tend to disappear if there is a homorganic consonant near the end of the next syllable. If a non-front vowel comes into contact with a front vowel after it due to this deletion, the two vowels fuse into a diphthong like Irish, Old (to 900);: oí or Irish, Old (to 900);: aí. Otherwise a hiatus between the two vowels may be formed instead.[20]
For the purposes of this sound law, pronounced as //h// is treated as if homorganic with s, due to its general origin in lenitions of Proto-Celtic *s.
Some examples of this sound law are given below:
This deletion and diphthong formation happened before syncope.[17] As a demonstration, Irish, Old (to 900);: coímthecht ended up syncopating its etymon's third syllable instead of the usual second. This can be explained by the first and second syllables fusing into one syllable due to dissimilatory deletion, making the etymon's third syllable the second syllable at the time of syncope.
Many intervocalic clusters are reduced, becoming either a geminate consonant or a simple consonant with compensatory lengthening of the previous vowel. During the Old Irish period, geminates are reduced to simple consonants, occurring earliest when adjacent to a consonant. By the end of the Old Irish period, written Irish, Old (to 900);: ll mm nn rr are repurposed to indicate the non-lenited sounds pronounced as //L m N R// when occurring after a vowel and not before a consonant.
Cluster reduction involving Celtic languages: n:
Cluster reduction involving Celtic languages: s Celtic languages: z:
Lenited stops Celtic languages: x *ɣ *θ|italic=yes *ð generally disappear before sonorants Celtic languages: r Celtic languages: l Celtic languages: n Celtic languages: m, with compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel. Many examples occur in reduplicated preterites or words with consonant-final prefixes (such as Irish, Old (to 900);: ad-):[7]
However, *θr, *βr, *βl survive: Irish, Old (to 900);: críathraid "he perforates" < PCelt Celtic languages: krētrāti-s; Irish, Old (to 900);: gabur "goat" < PCelt Celtic languages: gabros (cf. Welsh Welsh: gafr); Irish, Old (to 900);: mebul "shame" < PCelt Celtic languages: meblā (cf. Welsh Welsh: mefl).
Any /h/ that ends up in an intervocalic consonant cluster for any reason triggers the devoicing of adjacent consonants in the cluster.[17]
Sequences of Celtic languages: *-ssiy- in Primitive Irish are reduced to simple *-ss- if the vowel preceding the sequence is unstressed.[3]
MacNeill's law refers to a sound law before and during the Old Irish period causing the loss of lenition of n and l in final unstressed syllables even though they are etymologically expected to be lenited in that position. Newly word-final n and l became unlenited nn and ll when the unstressed syllables containing them began in r, n, l, pronounced as /lang=sga/, or pronounced as /lang=sga/.[22] [23] A vowel between the trigger consonant and the affected l or n must also be present for the law to apply.[17] However, MacNeill's law often failed to apply if this vowel had been inserted by anaptyxis in the first place instead of coming from an earlier Proto-Celtic vowel.[24]
| Etymon | Early Irish form | Meaning | MacNeill's law applicable? | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic languages: *anmanā | Irish, Old (to 900);: anmann | "names" | MacNeill's law applies after pronounced as /lang=sga/. | |
| Celtic languages: *kolanī | Irish, Old (to 900);: colainn | "flesh, body" | MacNeill's law applies after l. | |
| Celtic languages: *Φīweryonos | Irish, Old (to 900);: Érenn | "Ireland" (genitive singular) | MacNeill's law applies after r. | |
| Irish, Old (to 900);: com- + Irish, Old (to 900);: lán | Irish, Old (to 900);: comlann | "complete" | Demonstrates a contrast where the root word Irish, Old (to 900);: lán "full", which lacks MacNeill's law as it is a stressed syllable, undergoes MacNeill's law as derivation moves the morpheme to an unstressed syllable. | |
| Celtic languages: *oɸibelā | Irish, Old (to 900);: oíbell | "spark" | MacNeill's law applies after pronounced as /lang=sga/. | |
| Celtic languages: *gablā | Irish, Old (to 900);: gabul | "fork" | MacNeill's law tends to fail to apply if the vowel between the b and the l did not originally exist in earlier Celtic and was only inserted in early Irish to break up a newly word-final consonant cluster. | |
| Celtic languages: *andelom | Irish, Old (to 900);: indel(l) | "arrangement" | MacNeill's law may have been still synchronically active in Early Irish, continuing to operate as the -nd- consonant cluster reduced to -nn- (and thus became a trigger) over the Old Irish period. | |
Proclitics that precede a stressed syllable undergo special sound changes during the Old Irish period.
Initial s was deleted in proclitics.[7]
Initial t in pretonic position was voiced to d-.[17]
Long vowels merged with their corresponding short vowels in proclitics.[7]
This was followed by o merging with u, with the resulting vowel spelled with both u and o in Old Irish.[17]
At the same time, e became a in proclitics, except for e before *nt which instead merged with i with the spelling vacillating between e and i.[25]
Palatalisation was generally lost in proclitics.[17]
. Rudolf Thurneysen. Binchy. D. A. Osborn. Bergin. A Grammar of Old Irish. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. 1940. 1-85500-161-6.