o dan
Welsh
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle Welsh a dan, from Old Welsh guotan. Reanalyzed in modern Welsh as o (“of, from”) + tan (“under”), but the first element is not actually o (“from”), but instead it was in reality Proto-Celtic *uɸo (“under”), which outside of o dan went extinct in Brittonic as a free-standing preposition.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɔˈdan/
Preposition
o dan (triggers soft mutation on a following noun)
Usage notes
In literary Welsh, tan can mean both "under" and "until". In Welsh usage today, however, dan (originally the soft mutation of tan) has become a preposition in its own right with the meaning "under" whereas tan means "until", retaining the meaning "under" in certain expressions, compound words and place names. Modern dan or tan are not usually mutated. o dan is an alternative to dan.
Inflection
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| first person | o danof | o danom |
| second person | o danot | o danoch |
| third person | o dano m o dani f |
o danynt |
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| first person | o dano i/fi, o dana i | o danon ni |
| second person | o danot ti, o danat ti | o danoch chi |
| third person | o dano fe/fo m o dani hi f |
o danyn nhw |
References
- ^ Schrijver, Peter C. H. (1995) Studies in British Celtic historical phonology (Leiden studies in Indo-European; 5), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, page 116