seacht

See also: seacht-

Irish

Irish cardinal numbers

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Cardinal : seacht     Ordinal : seachtú     Personal : mórsheisear, seachtar

Etymology

From Old Irish secht, from Proto-Celtic *sextam, from Proto-Indo-European *septḿ̥.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃaxt̪ˠ/
• (Cois Fharraige) IPA^(key): /ʃæxt̪ˠ/

Numeral

seacht (triggers eclipsis)

1. seven
   • 1906, E. C. Quiggin, “Áindrías an Ime”, in A Dialect of Donegal: Being the Speech of Meenawannia in the Parish of Glenties, page 196:

     Seachtmhain roimhe Shamhain chuaidh an Seónstanach siar ⁊ seacht ngearráin ⁊ péire cliabh air ghach gearrán fá choinne a chuid ime.

     A week before Samhain, Johnstone went back with seven geldings and a pair of panniers on each gelding for his butter.

Usage notes

• May be used with nouns in both the singular and plural; the singular is more common in general, but the plural must be used with units of measurement and the like. Triggers eclipsis:

• seacht gcat ― seven cats
• seacht dtroithe ― seven feet
• seacht n-éin ― seven birds

• When used with the definite article, the definite article is always in the plural. When used with adjectives, the adjective is also in the plural and is always lenited after nouns in the singular; after nouns in the plural, the adjective only lenites after slender consonants:

• seacht gcapall bhána ― seven white horses
• na seacht n-eaglais mhóra ― the seven big churches

But:

• seacht gcapaill bhána ― seven white horses
• na seacht n-eaglaisí móra ― the seven big churches

• When referring to human beings, the personal form mórsheisear (or seachtar) is used.

Derived terms

• seachtar (used with personal nouns)
• seachtú (ordinal)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
seacht	sheacht after an, tseacht	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “seacht”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 75