lánamain

Old Irish

Etymology

Explained by Thurneysen as from lán (“whole, complete”) +‎ emon (“twin, triplet”), but the semantics and morphology (emon is a masculine o-stem, this term is a feminine ī-stem) are difficult to reconcile. However, the Manx descendant lannoon also means "twin".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈl͈aːnaβ̃ɨnʲ]

Noun

lánamain f (genitive lánamnae, nominative plural lánamnai)

1. married couple

Inflection

Feminine ī-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	lánamainL	lánamainL	lánamnaiH
Vocative	lánamainL	lánamainL	lánamnaiH
Accusative	lánamnaiN	lánamainL	lánamnaiH
Genitive	lánamnaeH	lánamnaeL	lánamnaeN
Dative	lánamnaiL	lánamnaib	lánamnaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• lánamnas

Descendants

• Middle Irish: lánamain
  • Irish: lánúin
  • Scottish Gaelic: lànan
  • Manx: lannoon (“twin”)

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
lánamain also llánamain after a proclitic ending in a vowel	lánamain pronounced with /l(ʲ)-/	unchanged
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), “lánamain”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language