féin

See also: fein, fèin, feîn, féin-, and fèin-

Irish

Etymology 1

From Old Irish féin, from Proto-Celtic *swesin (from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“oneself”)) + *sin (anaphoric pronoun). Cognate to Scottish Gaelic fhèin, Manx hene.

Alternative forms

• féinig, fhéin, héin, péin

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /heːnʲ/, /fʲeːnʲ/
• (Aran, also) IPA^(key): /pʲeːnʲ/ (corresponds to the form péin)
• (Ulster, rare) IPA^(key): /hiːnʲ/

Pronoun

féin

1. self

   mé féin ― myself (both emphatic and reflexive)

   sinn féin ― ourselves; we ourselves

2. own

   Thóg mé mo theach féin.

   I built my own house.

Derived terms

• féin-
• Sinn Féin

Adverb

féin

1. even, only

   má tá féin ― even if it is

Further reading

• “féin”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “féin”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 308
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “féin”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʲeːnʲ/

Noun

féin

1. inflection of féan:
   1. vocative/genitive singular
   2. nominative/dative plural

Mutation

Mutated forms of féin

radical	lenition	eclipsis
féin	fhéin	bhféin

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *swe sim, from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“oneself”)) + *sim (anaphoric pronoun).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɸʲeːnʲ]

Pronoun

féin

1. self
   • 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^b12

     Non·samlafammar frinn fesine.

     We will liken ourselves to ourselves.

2. (adjectival) one's own

Usage notes

The difference between the féin/céin set and the fadéin/cadéin set appears to be that the latter are contrastively reflexive (‘oneself as opposed to someone else’) while the former do not suggest any contrast. The difference between the f- forms and the c- forms may be that the latter have a connotation of ‘even/also oneself’ that the former do not have.

Inflection

	féin	fadéin	céin	cadéin
1 sg.	féin	fadéin	céin	cadéin
2 sg.	féin	fadéin	—	—
3 sg. m./n.	fes(s)in, feis(s)in féin	fades(s)in, fadeis(s)in fadéne	ces(s)in, ceis(s)in	cades(s)in, cadeis(s)in
3 sg. f.	fes(s)in, feis(s)in, fissin fes(s)ine, feisine, feis(s)ne	fadisin fade(is)sne	—	—
1 pl.	fes(s)ine	fanis(s)in	—	canisin
2 pl.	fes(s)in, feis(s)in feis(s)ne	fanis(s)in	—	—
3 pl.	fes(s)in, feis(s)in fes(s)ine, feisine, feis(s)ne	fades(s)in, fadeis(s)in, fedesin fades(s)ine, fadeisine, fadeis(s)ne	ceisne	cades(s)in, cadeis(s)in cades(s)ine, cadeisine, cadesne

Descendants

• Middle Irish: féin
  • Irish: féin
  • Manx: hene
  • Scottish Gaelic: fhèin

Mutation

Mutation of féin

radical	lenition	nasalization
féin	ḟéin	féin pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “fadéin, féin”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, § 485, pages 306–7; reprinted 2017
• Pedersen, Holger (1913) Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen [Comparative Grammar of the Celtic Languages] (in German), volume II, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, →ISBN, page 153

Old Norse

Noun

féin

1. definite nominative/accusative plural of fé