caín
Old Irish
Etymology
Borrowed from a Brythonic language, whence the diphthong. Compare Welsh cain, ultimately from Proto-Celtic *kanyos. Conflated with an earlier form cain with the same meaning, which is from Proto-Celtic *kanis, of which *kanyos was a thematicized form.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkai̯nʲ/
Adjective
caín (superlative caínem)
- fine, good
- fair, beautiful
Inflection
| i-stem | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nominative | caín | caín | caín |
| Vocative | caín | ||
| Accusative | caín | caín | |
| Genitive | caín | caíne | caín |
| Dative | caín | caín | caín |
| Plural | Masculine | Feminine/neuter | |
| Nominative | caíni | caíni | |
| Vocative | caíni | ||
| Accusative | caíni | ||
| Genitive | caín* caíne | ||
| Dative | caínib | ||
| Notes | *not when substantivized | ||
Descendants
- Middle Irish: caín
- Irish: caoin
- Scottish Gaelic: caoin
Mutation
| Old Irish mutation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Radical | Lenition | Nasalization |
| caín | chaín | caín pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/ |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | ||
Further reading
- Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “1 caín”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language