tacht

See also: -tacht

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish tachtaid, from Proto-Celtic *taketi.

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Aran) IPA^(key): /t̪ˠɑxt̪ˠ/
• (Cois Fharraige, Connemara, Mayo) IPA^(key): /t̪ˠaxt̪ˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /t̪ˠa(x)t̪ˠ/

Verb

tacht (present analytic tachtann, future analytic tachtfaidh, verbal noun tachtadh, past participle tachta)

1. (transitive) to choke, strangle

   Synonym: plúch

Usage notes

The Irish verb is transitive; the intransitive English senses of “choke, strangle” must be translated using a passive or impersonal construction, such as Tá sé á thachtadh (“He is choking”), Tachtadh iad (“They (were) strangled”), or by making the thing on which the person choked the subject of the sentence, as Thacht cnámh í (“She choked on a bone”, literally “A bone choked her”).

Conjugation

conjugation of tacht (first conjugation – A)

		singular			plural			relative	autonomous
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	present	tachtaim	tachtann tú; tachtair†	tachtann sé, sí	tachtaimid	tachtann sibh	tachtann siad; tachtaid†	a thachtann; a thachtas / a dtachtann*; a dtachtas*	tachtar
	past	thacht mé; thachtas	thacht tú; thachtais	thacht sé, sí	thachtamar; thacht muid	thacht sibh; thachtabhair	thacht siad; thachtadar	a thacht / ar thacht*	tachtadh
	past habitual	thachtainn / dtachtainn‡‡	thachtá / dtachtᇇ	thachtadh sé, sí / dtachtadh sé, s퇇	thachtaimis; thachtadh muid / dtachtaimis‡‡; dtachtadh muid‡‡	thachtadh sibh / dtachtadh sibh‡‡	thachtaidís; thachtadh siad / dtachtaidís‡‡; dtachtadh siad‡‡	a thachtadh / a dtachtadh*	thachtaí / dtachta퇇
future		tachtfaidh mé; tachtfad	tachtfaidh tú; tachtfair†	tachtfaidh sé, sí	tachtfaimid; tachtfaidh muid	tachtfaidh sibh	tachtfaidh siad; tachtfaid†	a thachtfaidh; a thachtfas / a dtachtfaidh*; a dtachtfas*	tachtfar
conditional		thachtfainn / dtachtfainn‡‡	thachtfá / dtachtfᇇ	thachtfadh sé, sí / dtachtfadh sé, s퇇	thachtfaimis; thachtfadh muid / dtachtfaimis‡‡; dtachtfadh muid‡‡	thachtfadh sibh / dtachtfadh sibh‡‡	thachtfaidís; thachtfadh siad / dtachtfaidís‡‡; dtachtfadh siad‡‡	a thachtfadh / a dtachtfadh*	thachtfaí / dtachtfa퇇
subjunctive	present	go dtachta mé; go dtachtad†	go dtachta tú; go dtachtair†	go dtachta sé, sí	go dtachtaimid; go dtachta muid	go dtachta sibh	go dtachta siad; go dtachtaid†	—	go dtachtar
	past	dá dtachtainn	dá dtachtá	dá dtachtadh sé, sí	dá dtachtaimis; dá dtachtadh muid	dá dtachtadh sibh	dá dtachtaidís; dá dtachtadh siad	—	dá dtachtaí
imperative		tachtaim	tacht	tachtadh sé, sí	tachtaimis	tachtaigí; tachtaidh†	tachtaidís	—	tachtar
verbal noun		tachtadh
past participle		tachta

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form
‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
tacht	thacht	dtacht
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• “tacht”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “tachtaid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “taċtaim”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 707
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “tacht”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Scots

Alternative forms

• taght

Etymology

From Middle English taught, toȝt (“tight, distended”). Cognate with English taut.

Adjective

tacht

1. Tight; tense; close; stretched out; tightened.
2. (of persons) Strict; severe.

Derived terms

• tachten (to tighten)