xxx.
Outlines of Gaelic etymology.
The following suffixes belong to this branch of word-building:—
- ‑lach, from *slougo‑, now sluagh; seen in teaghlach, dòrlach, òglach, youth, etc.
- ‑radh, from *rêda, W. rwyd (see réidh); seen in reabhradh, madraidh, dogs, òigridh, youth, macraidh, sons, rìghre, kings, gnìomharra, deeds.
- ‑mhor, ‑or, from mór, great; it makes adjectives from nouns, etc.: lìonmhor, etc.
- ‑ail, like; from samhail, amhail: rìoghail for rìogh-amhail, king‑like.
- ‑an, diminutive masculine, O. Ir. án, Ogmic ‑agnos, for *apo-gno‑s, root gen, bear (Stokes): as in fearan, truaghan, etc.
- ‑ag, diminutive fem. in G., O. Ir. ‑óc (masc. and fern.), from óc, óg, young: seen in caileag, etc.
- ‑seach. This feminine termination has been explained by Stokes as from O. Ir. es, a fem. form, with the adjectival addition *iqâ, and this es he deduces from W. es, which comes from Lat. issa. Cf. baiseach, cláirseach, bonnsach, céirseach or ciarseach (Ir.).
(2) The compound may be one noun governing another in the genitive: mac-leisg, and all the personal names in mac, gille, maol.
(3) Uninflected prefixes:
- a. Negative prefixes—I. E. ṇ, G. an before vowels, aineol, ion‑, in- before b, d, g (iongantas), eu- (ao‑) before t, c, s (aotrom for é-trom, *ṇ-trommo‑s).
- To this negative add also mi‑, neo‑, as- (eas‑), di- (der- = di-air‑).
- b. Prefixes of quality: do (do-char), and so- (so-char); and the intensive ro‑.
(4) Old adverbial forms and all prepositions. These prepositions are often combined with one or two other prepositions.
- ad‑, Lat. ad: faic = f‑ad-ci; àireamh (= ad-rîm‑).
- aith‑, ad‑, *ati‑, re‑, continually confused with the above prep. (aith gives accented é as in épiur; ad gives a as in aca): abair (*ad-ber‑), agair, aithreachas (*ati-réc‑), etc. Compounded with to- in tagair, tapaidh, taitinn, taitheasg, taisg, etc.; with fo- in fàg (fo-ad-gab).
- air, by, on: air-leag, eir-idinn, òir-dheirc, oir-thir, urchair, ùrlar. Compounded with com in comhairle; with to- in tairis, tairg, tèarainn; with di‑ in dearmad; with imm- in iomar-bhaigh, iomarchur.
