sinnach

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• sindach

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *senūnākos, from Proto-Celtic *senos (“old one”, n-stem noun) + adjectival suffix *-ākos (Old Irish -ach) (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Noun

sinnach m

1. fox
   • Broccán's Hymn, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. 2, p. 342

     As·rir in sinnach n-allaid do ráith a aithig in trúaig: dochum feda con·selai cé do·sefnatar int slúaig.

     She gave the wild fox to her vassal, the wretched one; it went to the woods, although the host chased after it.

   • c. 775, “Táin Bó Fraích”, in Book of Leinster; republished as Ernst Windisch, editor, Táin bó Fraích, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1974, line 53:

     Do·sennat na secht n-aige do Ráith Chrúachan, ⁊ secht sinnchu ⁊ secht míla maige ⁊ secht turcu alta, conda·rubatar ind óic issind aurlaind in dúine.

     [The hounds] chase the seven deer to Ráith Chrúachan, in addition to seven foxes, seven hares, and seven wild boars, until the youths struck down [the hunted animals] in the lawn of the fort.

Inflection

Masculine o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	sinnach	sinnachL	sinnaigL
Vocative	sinnaig	sinnachL	sinnchuH
Accusative	sinnachN	sinnachL	sinnchuH
Genitive	sinnaigL	sinnach	sinnachN
Dative	sinnuchL	sinnchaib	sinnchaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Middle Irish: sinnach
  • Irish: sionnach
  • Manx: shynnagh
  • Scottish Gaelic: sionnach
• ⇒ Middle Irish: sinnchán

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
sinnach	ṡinnach	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.