Old Irish

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Etymology

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From Latin maledictiō.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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maldacht f (genitive maldachtae or maldachtan, nominative plural maldachta)

  1. curse
    • c. 850-875, Turin Glosses and Scholia on St Mark, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 484–94, Tur. 110c
      Ba bés leusom do·bertis dá boc leu dochum tempuil, ⁊ no·léicthe indala n‑aí fon díthrub co pecad in popuil, ⁊ do·bertis maldachta foir, ⁊ n⟨o⟩·oircthe didiu and ó popul tar cenn a pecthae ind aile.
      It was a custom with them that two he-goats were brought by them to the temple, and one of the two of them was let go to the wilderness with the sin of the people, and curses were put upon him, and thereupon the other was slain there by the people for their sins.

Declension

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Feminine ā-stem
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative maldachtL maldachtL maldachtaH
Vocative maldachtL maldachtL maldachtaH
Accusative maldachtN maldachtL maldachtaH
Genitive maldachtaeH maldachtL maldachtN
Dative maldachtL maldachtaib maldachtaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization
Feminine n-stem
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative maldacht maldachtainL maldachtain
Vocative maldacht maldachtainL maldachtnaH
Accusative maldachtainN maldachtainL maldachtnaH
Genitive maldachton, maldachtan maldachton, maldachtanL maldachton, maldachtanN
Dative maldachtainL, maldachtL maldachtnaib maldachtnaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

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  • Middle Irish: mallacht
    • Irish: mallacht
    • Manx: mollaght
    • Scottish Gaelic: mallachd

Mutation

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Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
maldacht
also mmaldacht after a proclitic
ending in a vowel
maldacht
pronounced with /β̃(ʲ)-/
unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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