noídiu

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *nowēdwūs (“unknowing”), from *ne + Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, know”). See also fíadu (from Proto-Celtic *wēdwūs) for a related formation. The n-stem inflection is secondary; it is analogical to other n-stems that would also end in -ū in the nominative singular.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [n͈oːi̯ðʲu]

Noun

noídiu f (genitive noíden, nominative plural noídin)

1. infant, young child

Inflection

Feminine n-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	noídiu	noídinL	noídin
Vocative	noídiu	noídinL	noídenaH
Accusative	noídinN	noídinL	noídenaH
Genitive	noíden	noídenL	noídenN
Dative	noídinL, noídiuL	noídenaib	noídenaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• noídenacht

Descendants

• Irish: naíon, naí
• Scottish Gaelic: naoidhean
• ⇒ Middle Irish: nóedenán
  • Irish: naíonán
• ⇒ Middle Irish: noídenda

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
noídiu also nnoídiu after a proclitic ending in a vowel	noídiu pronounced with /n(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), “noídiu”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language