catt

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *kattuz. Cognate with Old Saxon katto, Old Norse kǫttr, Old High German kazzo. A related word also existed in the Germanic languages with the feminine gender, represented in Old English by catte. The word appears to be related to Late Latin cattus as well as to similar words in the Slavic and Celtic languages, but the ultimate source is uncertain. See cat for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɑtt/, [kɑt]

Noun

catt m

1. cat

   Hēo hrīemþ. Iċ hrīeme. Sē catt hrīemþ.

   She screams. I scream. The cat screams.

Declension

Declension of catt (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	catt	cattas
accusative	catt	cattas
genitive	cattes	catta
dative	catte	cattum

Coordinate terms

• catte

Derived terms

• *cattes minte

Descendants

• Middle English: cat, catt, catte, cate; kat, katte, kaat
  • English: cat
  • Scots: cat
  • Yola: kaudès, kauddès, kaudes (plural)

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *kattos, either borrowed from or cognate with Latin cattus, which is possibly from Afroasiatic, but see cat for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kat]

Noun

catt m (genitive caitt)

1. cat
   • c. 900, Sanas Cormaic, from the Yellow Book of Lecan, Corm. Y 10

     catt ab eo quod est cattus

     catt from that which is cattus

Inflection

Masculine o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	catt	cattL	caittL
Vocative	caitt	cattL	cattuH
Accusative	cattN	cattL	cattuH
Genitive	caittL	catt	cattN
Dative	cattL	cattaib	cattaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: cat
• Manx: kayt
• Scottish Gaelic: cat
• ⇒ Middle Irish: caittín

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
catt	chatt	catt 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, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “catt”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language