Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/-yūs

This Proto-Celtic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Celtic

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *-yōs.

Suffix

*-yūs[1]

  1. Forms comparative forms of adjectives.
    ‎*sen- (“old”) + ‎*-yūs → ‎*senyūs (“older”) (whence Old Irish siniu and Welsh hŷn)

Usage notes

  • No direct gender/number/case inflection of comparative adjectives is attested in Celtic. However, Schrijver believes it must have existed in Proto-Celtic given how Brittonic apparently has outcomes of both nominative and accusative stems of this suffix.[2]
    • The nominative of this suffix lost all productivity in Brythonic but a few remnants remain (such as Welsh hŷn < *senyūs). It was instead displaced by *-ox, which came from the accusative *-yosam and plural *-yoses.
    • Brittonic comparatives are attested in both predicative and attributive use; early Irish ones are only predicative.
  • Some adjectives that used a Caland system suffix in the positive that was absent in the other degrees of comparison did not use *-yūs. Instead they used *-(a)is to form the comparative.

Inflection

Declension of the comparative
masculine singular dual plural
nominative *-yūs *? *-yoses
vocative *-yūs *? *-yoses
accusative *-yosam *? *-yosans
genitive *-isos *? *-isom
dative *-isei *? *-isbos
instrumental *-isī *? *-isbis
feminine singular dual plural
nominative *-yūs *? *-yoses
vocative *-yūs *? *-yoses
accusative *-yosam *? *-yosans
genitive *-isos *? *-isom
dative *-isei *? *-isbos
instrumental *-isī *? *-isbis
neuter singular dual plural
nominative *-is *? *?
vocative *-is *? *?
accusative *-is *? *?
genitive *-isos *? *-isom
dative *-isei *? *-isbos
instrumental *-isī *? *-isbis

Descendants

  • Proto-Brythonic: *-ox (from the accusative/plural stem)
    • Breton: -oc'h
    • Middle Welsh: -ach
  • Old Irish: -iu, -u

References

  1. ^ Jasanoff, Jay (1988–1990) “The origin of the Celtic comparative type OIr. tressa, MW trech ‘stronger’”, in Die Sprache‎[1], volume 34, published 1991, pages 171-189
  2. ^ Schrijver, Peter (2007) “Notes on British Celtic comparatives and their syntax”, in Alan J. Nussbaum, editor, Verba Docenti. Studies in historical and Indo-European linguistics presented to Jay H. Jasanoff by students, colleagues, and friends., Ann Arbor/New York: Beech Stave Press, pages 307-319
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.