lachu
See also: Lachu and łachu
Old Irish
Etymology
Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *lek-. Cognate with Lithuanian lak (“to fly”).[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈl͈axu/
Noun
lachu f (genitive lachan, nominative plural lachain)
- duck
- c. 900, Sanas Cormaic, from the Yellow Book of Lecan, Corm. Y 829
- lacha .i. lichiu quam aliæ auess
- duck, which is wetter than other birds
- c. 900, Sanas Cormaic, from the Yellow Book of Lecan, Corm. Y 829
Inflection
| Feminine n-stem | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| Nominative | lachu | lachainL | lachain |
| Vocative | lachu | lachainL | lachnaH |
| Accusative | lachainN | lachainL | lachnaH |
| Genitive | lachan | lachanL | lachanN |
| Dative | lachainL, lachuL | lachnaib | lachnaib |
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
| |||
Derived terms
- lachnach (“abounding in ducks”)
Descendants
- Irish: lacha
- Manx: laagh
- Scottish Gaelic: lach
Mutation
| Old Irish mutation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Radical | Lenition | Nasalization |
| lachu also llachu after a proclitic | lachu pronounced with /l(ʲ)-/ | unchanged |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | ||
References
- MacBain, Alexander; Mackay, Eneas (1911), “lachu”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, Stirling, →ISBN, page lach
Further reading
- G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “lachu”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language