ainimm

Old Irish

FWOTD – 14 September 2020

Alternative forms

• ainim, anaim, anaimm, anim, animm

Etymology

The forms with unpalatalized /n/ are from Proto-Celtic *anaman, while the forms with palatalized /nʲ/ (as well as the feminine gender) have been influenced by Latin anima. Both the native word and the Latin word are from *h₂enh₁- (“breathe”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈan(ʲ)imʲ]

Noun

ainimm f (genitive anmae, nominative plural anmain)

1. soul, as opposed to corporeal body
   • 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. 3^d11

     ind ainim

     the soul

   • 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. 4^a27

     Is and didiu for·téit spiritus ar n-énirti-ni in tain bes n-inun accobor lenn .i. la corp et anim et la spirut. […] Is hed didiu for·théit in spirut, in tain guidme-ni inducbáil diar corp et diar n-animm iar n-esséirgiu.

     So it is then that the spirit helps our weakness when we have the same desire, i.e. body and soul and spirit. […] Then the spirit helps when we pray for glory for our body and for our soul after resurrection.

2. life
3. living creature, animal

Inflection

Feminine n-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ainimm, ainim, anaim(m), anim(m)	—	anm(a)in
Vocative	ainimm, ainim, anaim(m), anim(m)	—	anmanaH
Accusative	anm(a)inN, anmuinN, ainimN, anaim(m)N, anim(m)N	—	anmanaH
Genitive	anm(a)e	—	anmanN
Dative	anm(a)inL, anmuinL, ainimL, anaim(m)L, anim(m)L	—	anmanaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: anam
• Manx: annym
• Scottish Gaelic: anam
• ⇒ Middle Irish: ainmide
  • Irish: ainmhí
  • Scottish Gaelic: ainmhidh

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
ainimm (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)	unchanged	n-ainimm
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), “ainim(m)”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language