adbar

Old Irish

Etymology

Perhaps from ad- +‎ the root of feraid (“grant, afford, supply”) and fo·fera (“prepare, provide; cause”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈaðβar]

Noun

adbar n

1. material, matter (kind of substance)
   • c. 850, Karlsruhe Glosses on Augustine, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, p. 8, l. 32:

     adbar

     elimentum (“element”) [sic]

   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 138^c3

     isa n-adbar nephdelbaigthe

     informemque materiam (“into the unformed material”)

2. reason (excuse, explanation; motive for an action or determination; a cause)
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 17^d17

     ci ad·cobrinn móidim do dénum ni bói adbar híc

     though I desired to make a boast, there was no cause here

   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 20^a9

     rot·bia adbar fáilte

     you sg will have cause of joy

Declension

Neuter o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	adbarN	adbarN	adbarL, adbara
Vocative	adbarN	adbarN	adbarL, adbara
Accusative	adbarN	adbarN	adbarL, adbara
Genitive	adbairL	adbar	adbarN
Dative	adburL	adbaraib	adbaraib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: ábhar
• Manx: oyr
• Scottish Gaelic: adhbhar

Mutation

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

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “adbar”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language