Old Irish

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Etymology

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From Proto-Celtic *aballā, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ebl̥neh₂.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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aball f (genitive abla, nominative plural abla)

  1. apple tree
    • c. 845, St Gall Glosses on Priscian, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1975, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, pp. 49–224, Sg. 61b5:
      aball [translating malus]
      apple tree

Inflection

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Feminine ā-stem
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative aballL abaillL ablaH
Vocative aballL abaillL ablaH
Accusative abaillN abaillL ablaH
Genitive ablaH aballL aballN
Dative abaillL ablaib ablaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization
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Descendants

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  • Irish: abhaill
  • Scottish Gaelic: abhall

Mutation

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Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
aball
(pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)
unchanged n-aball
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

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  1. ^ Stifter, David (2019 September 18) “An apple a day ...”, in Indogermanische Forschungen, volume 124, number 1, pages 172–218

Further reading

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Welsh

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Etymology

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Related to aballu (to perish), from Proto-Celtic *balnīti (to die).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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aball m (plural aballau or aballoedd)

  1. destruction, ruin
    Synonym: distryw
  2. defect, failing
    Synonyms: diffyg, eisiau, methiant, nam, pall

Mutation

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Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal h-prothesis
aball unchanged unchanged haball
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “aball”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies