Conchenn

Old Irish

Etymology

From Primitive Irish ᚉᚒᚅᚐᚉᚓᚅᚐ (cunacena, nom. sg.) of uncertain gender, masculine form also attested in ᚉᚒᚅᚐᚉᚓᚅᚅᚔ (cunacenni, gen. sg.). The first element can be definitely identified as ancestral to cú (“dog”), from Proto-Celtic *kū, combining form *kuno-.

However, it is difficult to trace the origin of the second element of the name, owing to two possibilities existing:

If related to the Gaulish name recorded as Latin Cunopennus as Matasović and many others before him do,^[1] the second element would be *kʷennom (“head”), making the whole name mean "dog-head".
If one follows McManus in relating this name to Old Welsh Concenn (name of the last king of Powys), also rendered as Middle Welsh Cyngen,^[2] the second element can be nothing else but *kennos (“skin”). This would make the name mean overall "dog-skin".

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈkonʲxʲen͈]

Proper noun

Conchenn f or m

a unisex given name

Inflection

When used for women:

Feminine ā-stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	Conchenn^L	Conchinn^L	Conchenna^H
vocative	Conchenn^L	Conchinn^L	Conchenna^H
accusative	Conchinn^N	Conchinn^L	Conchenna^H
genitive	Conchinne^H	Conchenn^L	Conchenn^N
dative	Conchinn^L	Conchennaib	Conchennaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

^H = triggers aspiration
^L = triggers lenition
^N = triggers nasalization

When used for men:

Masculine o-stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	Conchenn	Conchenn^L	Conchinn^L
vocative	Conchinn	Conchenn^L	Conchinnu^H
accusative	Conchenn^N	Conchenn^L	Conchinnu^H
genitive	Conchinn^L	Conchenn	Conchenn^N
dative	Conchiunn^L	Conchennaib	Conchennaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

^H = triggers aspiration
^L = triggers lenition
^N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

⇒ Classical Gaelic: Magh Conchinn, Magh gCoinchinn, Magh cCoinchinne
⇒ Irish: Maigh gCoinchinn
- → English: Magunihy
→⇒ English: Derrycunihy

Mutation

Mutation of *Conchenn*
radical	lenition	nasalization
Conchenn	Chonchenn	Conchenn pronounced with /ɡ-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*kʷenno-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 177
^ McManus, Damian (1991) A Guide to Ogam (Maynooth Monographs), volume 4, Maynooth: An Sagart, →ISBN, section 6.3, page 102

[1] Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*kʷenno-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 177

[2] McManus, Damian (1991) A Guide to Ogam (Maynooth Monographs), volume 4, Maynooth: An Sagart, →ISBN, section 6.3, page 102

[1]

[2]