féin

See also: fein, fèin, feîn, féin-, and fèin-

Irish

Etymology 1

From Old Irish féin, from Proto-Celtic *swesin (from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“oneself”)) + *sin (anaphoric pronoun).[1] Cognate to Scottish Gaelic fhèin, Manx hene.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /heːnʲ/[2], /fʲeːnʲ/[3]
  • (Aran, also) IPA(key): /pʲeːnʲ/[4] (corresponds to the form péin)
  • (Ulster, rare) IPA(key): /hiːnʲ/[5]

Pronoun

féin

  1. self
    mé féin ― myself (both emphatic and reflexive)
    sinn féin ― ourselves; we ourselves
  2. own
    Thóg mé mo theach féin.
    I built my own house.
Derived terms

Adverb

féin

  1. even, only
    má tá féin ― even if it is

Further reading

  • “féin”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
  • Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “féin”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 308
  • Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “féin”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fʲeːnʲ/

Noun

féin

  1. inflection of féan:
    1. vocative/genitive singular
    2. nominative/dative plural

Mutation

Mutated forms of féin
radical lenition eclipsis
féin fhéin bhféin

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

References

  1. ^ Peter Schrijver (1997) Studies in the History of Celtic Pronouns and Particles (Maynooth Studies in Celtic Linguistics; II), Maynooth: The Department of Old Irish, National University of Ireland, →ISBN, § III.2, pages 75–76
  2. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 194
  3. ^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 57, page 30
  4. ^ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), Zweiter Band: Wörterbuch [Second volume: Dictionary], Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 109
  5. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 120, page 46

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *swe sim, from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“oneself”)) + *sim (anaphoric pronoun).[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɸʲeːnʲ]

Pronoun

féin

  1. self
    • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 17b12
      Non·samlafammar frinn fesine.
      We will liken ourselves to ourselves.
  2. (adjectival) one's own

Usage notes

The difference between the féin/céin set and the fadéin/cadéin set appears to be that the latter are contrastively reflexive (‘oneself as opposed to someone else’) while the former do not suggest any contrast. The difference between the f- forms and the c- forms may be that the latter have a connotation of ‘even/also oneself’ that the former do not have.[2]

Inflection

féin fadéin céin cadéin
1 sg. féin fadéin céin cadéin
2 sg. féin fadéin — —
3 sg. m./n. fes(s)in, feis(s)in
féin 		fades(s)in, fadeis(s)in
fadéne 		ces(s)in, ceis(s)in cades(s)in, cadeis(s)in
3 sg. f. fes(s)in, feis(s)in, fissin
fes(s)ine, feisine, feis(s)ne 		fadisin
fade(is)sne 		— —
1 pl. fes(s)ine fanis(s)in — canisin
2 pl. fes(s)in, feis(s)in
feis(s)ne 		fanis(s)in — —
3 pl. fes(s)in, feis(s)in
fes(s)ine, feisine, feis(s)ne 		fades(s)in, fadeis(s)in, fedesin
fades(s)ine, fadeisine, fadeis(s)ne 		ceisne cades(s)in, cadeis(s)in
cades(s)ine, cadeisine, cadesne

Descendants

  • Middle Irish: féin

Mutation

Mutation of féin
radical lenition nasalization
féin ḟéin féin
pronounced with /β̃ʲ-/

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

References

  1. ^ Peter Schrijver (1997) Studies in the History of Celtic Pronouns and Particles (Maynooth Studies in Celtic Linguistics; II), Maynooth: The Department of Old Irish, National University of Ireland, →ISBN, § III.2, pages 75–76
  2. ^ Peter Schrijver (1997) Studies in the History of Celtic Pronouns and Particles (Maynooth Studies in Celtic Linguistics; II), Maynooth: The Department of Old Irish, National University of Ireland, →ISBN, §§ III.2, III.4, pages 72, 78–83

Further reading

Old Norse

Noun

féin

  1. definite nominative/accusative plural of fé
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