SUMMARY OF THE REGULAR DEVELOPMENT OF INDO-EUROPEAN SOUNDS IN OLD IRISH
220 VOICED STOPS FOR VOICELESS
d and g < t and k after nasals, § 208.t at the beginning of proclitics becomes d, § 178, 2.
There are further sporadic cases, some of them common to all Celtic languages, of a media appearing where one might expect a tenuis. Thus brecc (not *mrecc) 'speckled, variegated', W. brych, Gaul. Briccus
Briccius (as against Skt. pŕ + ̥śniḥ) 'speckled', Gk. περκνος, πρακνος 'dark-coloured', and περκη 'perch' : Ir. orc 'salmon') shows a treatment of pr- that is elsewhere found only in medial position ( § 227e ). For gabor 'goat' cp. § 227e.
In other cases an Irish media contrasts with a Britannic tenuis: géc 'branch' as against W. cainc (cp. O.Slav. sǫk 'branch, sprig', Skt.ϭ śaṅkúḥ 'wooden plug') may have been influenced by gésc(a)e 'branch'.
The reason for tile initial variation in garmain 'weaver's beam', W. carfan, is obscure. For bee(c) 'small' (c = g), as against W. bychan, see § 150.
droch 'wheel', if related to W. Bret. tro 'turning', W. troï Bret. treï 'to turn' ( < trog-), shows alternation of trog- and drok-.
The initial of dre(it)tell tre(it)tell 'pet, favourite', W. drythyll trythyll 'wanton', fluctuates in both languages. W. trum 'ridge' is probably a loan-word from Ir. druimm inaccurately reproduced.
221. GUTTURALS
(a) Before t all gutturals appear as ch, e.g.
ocht 'eight ', W. wyth, Gk. ϭκτω, Skt. aṣṭáu.
in-nocht 'to-night', W. peunoeth 'every night', Lat. noct-, Skt. náktiḥ, Lith. naktìs. nocht 'naked', W. noeth, Goth. naqaþs, Skt. nagnáḥ, O.Slav. nag .ϭ
techt 'going' (W. taith), vb.n. of tíagu 'I go', Gk. στειχειν. snecht(a)e 'snow' cognate with Lat. ninguit, Gk. νειϕει, etc.
Britannic ith goes back to chtt, cp. the occasional doubling of t in Irish ( § 136 ). The representation of the same group by XT (X = Gk. X) in Gaulish inscriptions shows that this sound change was common to all the Celtic languages, e.g. OXTVMETO[S] 'eighth' (Ir. ochtmad ), ATEXTORIC. (Cp. Lat. ala Atectorigiana).
For Ir. cl < chtl in anacul 'protection', see § 180.
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(b) All gutturals combine with a following s to give ss (simplified to s, § 142 ff.). Here too an earlier development to chs may be inferred from Britannic oh.
Ill Gaulish this sound-group is sometimes represented by xs, sometimes by x. In Ir. x stands for chs ( § 24, 5 ).
Examples:
úasal 'high' W. uchel, cp. old place-names like Οϭξελλον, Uxellodunum.
coss 'leg, foot', Caledon. '̓Αργεντο-κοξος, Lat. coxa 'hip', Skt. kákṣaḥ 'armpit' (W. coes 'leg, shank' has been influenced by Lat. coxa).
So too the stems of s-subjunctives like tess - (techid 'flees'), tēss- tías- (tíagu 'I go'), etc., § 613 ff. 222. NON-LABIALIZED GUTTURALS
IE. k (kh) = c § 183 ; lenited ch § 122, which may become γ (written g) § 129 f., and in medial position disappears before r l n § 125.
ηk (also in composition) = gg, g (written cc, c), § 208.
Initial groups preserved: cr, cl, cn, e.g. crú 'blood', cloth 'fame', cnú 'nut'.
IE. g and gh = g § 184 ; lenited γ (written g) § 122, which may become ch §§ 124, 130, and in medial position disappears before r l n § 125.
gd, gb > dd, bb § 149, 3a, 4b ; ηg > ηη § 152c.
Initial groups preserved: gr, gl, gn, e.g. grían 'sun', glé 'clear', gnáth 'customary'.
223. THE LABIOVELARS
qw gw gwh (qwh is not attested).
(a) By the Old Irish period qw had completely fallen together with the non-labialized tenuis (see § 183 ),
whereas in Britannic it had become p before vowels and r. But the Ogam script still has for this sound a special symbol which is trans-
literated Q. Thus the genitive of macc 'son' (Britannic map) is nearly always written MAQI MAQQI in the Ogam inscriptions. MACI occurs only in four inscriptions; these are doubtless very late, but they show that the loss of the labial element had begun while epitaphs were still being written in Ogam. So too the earliest inscription in Roman characters ( Thes. II. 288, 35) has MACCI.
Ogam QV for single Q is very rare.
The only clear traces left by the labial element of q are:
1. The mutation of following ri to ru before palatal and u-quality consonants, cp.
cruim 'worm', W. pryf Bret. pren + ̄v, Skt. kŕ + ̥miḥ, Lith. kirmìs. truth 'shape, appearance' (u-stem), W. pryd.
Cru(i)then-túath 'Pict-folk', cruithnech 'Pictish', Mid.W. Prydyn ' Britain'. On the other hand, re before neutral consonants is unchanged, e.g.
cren(a)id 'buys', W. prynu, Skt. krīṇā + ́ti, Gk. πριασθαι.
creth '(poetic) art' beside W. prydu 'to compose verse', prydydd 'poet'.
The vocalism of gen. sg. crotha (instead of *cretha) is due to nom. acc. dat. cruth.
That cru does not come directly from qr + ̥, but represents a mutation of earlier qri, is shown by the late Ogam QRIMITIR RONANN MAQ COMOGANN Macal. no. 56. The first word represents later cruimther 'priest' which, as pointed out in Cormac's Glossary 211, was modelled on OW. premter (primter, cp. Corn. prounder pronter), a corruption of Lat. presbyter.
2. The representation of earlier qwa- by co- in co(i)re 'cauldron', Mid.W. peir, Provençal par, pairol
(Gaul. *pari + ̯os); cp. OE. hwer 'cauldron'.
224. (b) gw usually = b § 188c, lenited β (written b) § 122.
= g (γ) before old i + ̯ in nigid 'washes', Gk. νιζειν, § 184a.
gwn- > mn-, § 190b ; in medial position treated as gn? Cp. úan 'lamb', W. oen, and Lat. agnus, Gk.
ϭμνος (o- instead of a- in Celtic by analogy with *owis, Ir. oí , 'sheep'?).
For this and related problems see Osthoff, IF. IV. 265 ff., v. 324 ff.
-137- (c) gwh falls together with gh, g, § 184b.
Collection: Osthoff, op. cit.; cp. further ingen 'nail', W. ewin, § 214 (gh + w).
225. DENTALS
(a) In original groups all dentals (t, d, dh) combine with a following t to give the geminate ss (simplified s), § 155 (f); but tt, t in composition (see preps. ad § 822, frith § 839 ).
(b) IE. t (and th) = t, § 185 ; lenited th § 122, which may become δ (written d) §§ 126, 128 ff., and disappears before l, n, § 125.
Old nt which is not the result of syncope > d(d) (also in composition), § 208 ; ts > ss (s), § 155b.
Initial groups preserved: tr, tl, tn; e.g. tromm 'heavy', tlacht 'garment', tnúth 'jealousy, passion'. (c) IE. d and dh = d § 186 ; lenited δ (written d) § 122, which may become th §§ 124, 130, 131, and disappears before r l n § 125.
ds > ss (s) § 155b ; dṡ > t § 185d ; dg db > gg bb § 149, 2a, 4a ; for the development of dm (δm, mm) see § 152b.
Initial groups preserved: dr, dl; e.g. dringid 'climbs', dlong(a)id 'cleaves'.
226. LABIALS1. IE. p (and ph) is not preserved in Celtic; but with the aid of reasonably certain etymological equations the following phases of its development in Irish can be reconstructed.
Collection: Windisch, Kuhn Beitr. VIII. 1 ff.
(a) Initial and intervocalic p has disappeared, e.g.
athir 'father', Gk. πατηρ, etc.
il 'many', Goth. filu, Gk. πολυς, Skt. purúḥ.
to, prep., W. rhy, Gk. προ, Skt. pra, etc. ( § 852 ).
lethan 'broad', W. llydan, Gaul. litano-, etc. ( § 215a ).
-138- tee té 'hot', nom. pl. téït, Skt. tápant- 'hot', Lat. tepere. niæ 'sister's son', Mid. W. nei, Lat. nepos, etc.
fo 'under', Britann. gwo-, < wo*uo*upo, Gk. ϭπο, etc. ( § 837 ).
In Celtic, as in Italic, initial p became qw if the second syllable began with qw: cóic 'five' (coíca
'fifty'), OW. pimp, Gaul. pinpetos 'fifth', and Lat. quinque, as against Skt. pañca, Gk. πεντε (*peηqwe).
(b) Initial sp (sph), like original sw- ( § 132 ), gives s-, lenited f (ph), e.g.
sine 'nipple', bó tri-phne 'a cow with three teats' LU 6249, Lith. spenỹs 'nipple', OE. spanu 'nipple'. selg 'spleen', Bret. felc'h, Avest. spǝrǝza, Mod. Pers. supurz; cp. Gk. σπλην, σπλαγχνα.
seir 'heel', du. di pherid LU 5698, W. ffer 'ankle', O.Corn. fer gl. 'crus', Gk. σϕυρον, 'ankle', (i.e. < sph-).
If Pedersen's equation (I. 83) of It. sluindid 'designates' (vb.n. slond ), O.Bret. istlinnit gl. 'profatur', with Lat. splendere is correct, the group splbecame stl- in Celtic.
227. (c) pt > cht, e.g.
secht 'seven', Mid.W. seith, Gaul. SEXTAMETOS 'seventh', Lat. septem, Gk. ϭπτα, etc. necht 'niece', W. nith, Lat. neptis, Skt. naptī + ́ḥ, OHG. nift.
(d) ps > ss through intermediate chs, cp. lass(a)id 'flames', lassar 'flame', W. llachar 'gleaming, flashing', Pruss. lopis 'flame', Lett. lãpa 'torch', Gk. λαμπειν.
It is not quite certain that O.Ir. tess (u-stem) W. tes 'heat' had as basic form *tepstu-.
(e) pr, pl after vowels > br, bl (βρ, βλ), e.g.
ad·cobra 'desires' (vb.n. accobor ) < kupr. . , cp. Lat. cupere, Dea Cupra (= bona).
gabor gabur 'goat', W. gafr, O.Brit. Gabrosenti (locative), Gaul. Gabromagus placename, Lat. caper capra, ON. hafr 'he-goat' (g- instead of c- under the influence of ga(i)bid 'takes, seizes' ?).
díabul 'double', cp. Goth. tweifl (acc. sg.) 'doubt', Lat. du-plus, Gk. δι-πλος. Cp. also § 649.
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(f) opn apn > Celt. *oun*aun, > Ir. úan e.g.
súan 'sleep', W. hun, < *sopnos, Lat. somnus.
clúain 'meadow' (*klopni-), cp. Lith. šlãpias 'wet', Gk. κλεπας 'swamp' (Hesych.).
cúan 'harbour' (*kapno-), OE. hæfen, MHG. habene.
If the equation of tene 'fire' (Britann. tan) with Avest. tafnō 'heat', tafnuš 'fever' (fn < pn) is correct, p in epn has completely disappeared.
(g) rp > rr, § 154b ; lp probably > ll, § 153c ; mp > mb, § 188d.
It would seem that p (ph) ill all positions (except, perhaps, after m) first, became bilabial f, which is possibly preserved in f, the lenited form of original sp- (cp. Britann. f-). Elsewhere f developed, sometimes into β or w, sometimes into h, which as a rule disappeared, but ht, hs became cht, chs.
228. 2. IE. b and bh = b, § 188 ; lenited β (written b), § 122.
b + ṡ > p, § 187a ; b before n > m, § 190b ; mb > mm, § 152c.
b + t had become pt, whence Ir. cht ( § 227c ), e.g.
drucht 'dew', cognate with O.Sax. driopan OE. dréopan 'to drip', OE. dropa OHG. tropfo troffo 'drop'. Initial groups preserved: br, bl; e.g. brú 'belly', bláth 'flower'.