< Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic
Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/essi
 | This Proto-Celtic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence. |
Proto-Celtic
Alternative reconstructions
- *īssi, *issi (McCone and KPV, pre-thematisation)
- *ideti (KPV, post-thematisation)
- *esseti (Sandell, post-thematisation)
- *īdeti (Matasović)
Etymology
Virtually everyone agrees that this verb came from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”). However, the present stem of this verb is one of the most controversial to reconstruct in Proto-Celtic, only matched in controversy with the preterite of *ɸarnati. There are a two major theories on how the Goidelic present stem ith- came to be, all of them attributing it to an analogical reformation based on the root *ɸit- that is present in the verbal noun *ɸityā in addition to *ɸitu (“corn, grain”). The steps leading to the suppletion remain up for debate.
- McCone and the KPV reconstruct an original athematic Narten present, leading to Celtic *īd- in the singular and *ed- in the plural. They then have the ablaut reshaped to respectively *īd- and *id- and then harmonized to *id- for both singular and plural. Then, after the loss of initial ɸ in Insular Celtic, stem id- was replaced with it- and thematised.[1][2]
- Lindeman and Sandell, finding no other secure Indo-European evidence of a Narten present formation for this verb, independently prefer a simple direct derivation from the e/zero-grade athematic Proto-Indo-European *h₁édti, which would lead to an extremely anomalous Proto-Celtic paradigm *edmi, *essi, *essi, etc. which was ripe for replacement by a simpler suppletive formation. After a further thematicisation to *esseti, Lindeman and Sandell posit different motivations for the later suppletion.
- Lindeman thought that the suppletion was caused by the newly thematic present being identical with its own subjunctive, with a new present stem that was very distinct from the subjunctive stem being desired.[3]
- Sandell instead draws on the verbal noun *ɸityā itself as the trigger for analogy. He notes that many Old Irish verbal nouns in -e (from Proto-Celtic *-yā) correspond to B I (and some B II) verbs with transparent relationships between the present stem and the verbal noun. The lack of transparency between the original present stem and the verbal noun ithe in Old Irish led to remodeling with a present stem ith- to match.[4]
- Matasović attempts to substitute KPV and McCone's Narten present with an i-reduplicated *ɸibeti-style present.[5] Sandell dismisses Matasović's derivation for lacking a subsequent mechanism to reach a short i- stage from the resulting *īdeti.[4]
- Matasović's derivation can be salvaged by assuming that *ɸibeti itself intervened to force a short i. Influence of *ɸibeti is not unparalleled, as KPV attributes ithid's a-future to analogy with ibid, which descends from *ɸibeti and also has an a-future (although ibid also acquired its a-future secondarily).[2]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈes.si/
Verb
*essi
- to eat
Inflection
| Suffixless preterite | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active voice | ||||
| Present | Imperfect | Future | Preterite | |
| 1st singular | ? | ? | *īssū | *āda |
| 2nd singular | ? | ? | *īssesi | *ādas? |
| 3rd singular | ? | ? | *īsseti | *āde |
| 1st plural | ? | ? | *īssomosi | ? |
| 2nd plural | ? | ? | *īssetesi | ? |
| 3rd plural | ? | ? | *īssonti | *ādar? |
| Pres. subjunctive | Past subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| 1st singular | *esū | ? | — | |
| 2nd singular | *esesi | ? | ? | |
| 3rd singular | *eseti | ? | ? | |
| 1st plural | *esomosi | ? | ? | |
| 2nd plural | *esetesi | ? | ? | |
| 3rd plural | *esonti | ? | ? | |
| Passive voice | ||||
| Present | Imperfect | Future | Preterite | |
| 1st singular | ? | — | *īssūr | — |
| 2nd singular | ? | — | *īssetar | — |
| 3rd singular | ? | ? | *īssetor | — |
| 1st plural | ? | — | *īssommor | — |
| 2nd plural | ? | — | *īssedwe | — |
| 3rd plural | ? | ? | *īssontor | — |
| Pres. subjunctive | Past subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| 1st singular | *esūr | — | — | |
| 2nd singular | *esetar | — | — | |
| 3rd singular | *esetor | — | — | |
| 1st plural | *esommor | — | — | |
| 2nd plural | *esedwe | — | — | |
| 3rd plural | *esontor | — | — | |
| Declension of the past participle | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | singular | dual | plural |
| nominative | *essos | *essou | *essoi |
| vocative | *esse | *essou | *essūs |
| accusative | *essom | *essou | *essoms |
| genitive | *essī | *essous | *essom |
| dative | *essūi | *essobom | *essobos |
| instrumental | *essū | *essobim | *essobis |
| feminine | singular | dual | plural |
| nominative | *essā | *essai | *essās |
| vocative | *essā | *essai | *essās |
| accusative | *essam | *essai | *essams |
| genitive | *essās | *essous | *essom |
| dative | *essai | *essābom | *essābos |
| instrumental | *? | *essābim | *essābis |
| neuter | singular | dual | plural |
| nominative | *essom | *essou | *essā |
| vocative | *essom | *essou | *essā |
| accusative | *essom | *essou | *essā |
| genitive | *essī | *essous | *essom |
| dative | *essūi | *essobom | *essobos |
| instrumental | *essū | *essobim | *essobis |
Descendants
- Proto-Brythonic:
- Old Breton: esat
- Welsh: ysu
- Old Irish: ithid
- Irish: ith
- Manx: ee
- Scottish Gaelic: ith
See also
- *ɸitu (“corn, grain”)
References
- McCone, Kim (1991), “OIr. -ic 'Reaches', Ithid 'Eats', Rigid 'Stretches, Directs, Rules' and the PIE 'Narten' Present in Celtic”, in Ériu, volume 42, Royal Irish Academy, ISSN 2009-0056, JSTOR 30007532, retrieved September 3, 2022, pages 1–11
- Schumacher, Stefan; Schulze-Thulin, Britta (2004), “*īd-/*ed-”, in Die keltischen Primärverben: ein vergleichendes, etymologisches und morphologisches Lexikon [The Celtic Primary Verbs: A comparative, etymological and morphological lexicon] (Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft; 110) (in German), Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachen und Literaturen der Universität Innsbruck, →ISBN, pages 377-380
- Lindeman, Fredrik Otto (1994), “Varia I: Old Irish ithid”, in Ériu, volume 45, Royal Irish Academy, ISSN 2009-0056, JSTOR 30007719, retrieved September 3, 2022, pages 191–194
- Sandell, Ryan (2011), “Evidence for Indo-European Acrostatic Presents in Old Irish?”, in Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, volume 31, Department of Celtic Languages & Literatures, Harvard University, ISSN 1545-0155, JSTOR 41759266, retrieved September 3, 2022, pages 282–304
- Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*ed-o-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 113