ocus

Middle Irish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Irish ocus, see there for more.

Pronunciation

  • (earlier) IPA(key): /ˈoɡus/
  • (later) IPA(key): /ˈoɡəs/

Conjunction

ocus (abbreviated ⁊)

  1. and

Descendants

  • Irish: agus
  • Manx: as
  • Scottish Gaelic: agus

Adverb

ocus

  1. also
    • c. 1000, “The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig”, in Ernst Windisch, editor, Irische Texte, volume 1, published 1800, section 1:
      I n‑oen uair dana tancatar ocus techta Conchobair mic Nessa do chungid in chon chetna.
      At the same time, then, messengers came also from Conchobar Mac Nessa to ask for the same dog.

Mutation

Mutation of ocus
radical lenition nasalization
ocus
(pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments) 		unchanged n-ocus

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

Further reading

Old Irish

Etymology

The adjective, at least, is from Proto-Celtic *adgostus (“near”), with the initial o- arising under the influence of oc (“at”). Cognate to Welsh agos.[1] The second component is *gostus, derived from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰes- (“hand”) (cognate with Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír), Hittite 𒆠𒌍𒊬 (“ke-eš-šar”), Tocharian A tsar, Albanian dorë and Old Armenian ձեռն (jeṙn)).

Griffith separates the origins of the adjective and the conjunction, proposing that the conjunction is instead indeed a derivative of oc (“at”), more specifically as a contraction of occa as (literally “at it which is”).[2]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈoɡus/

Conjunction

ocus (abbreviated ⁊)

  2. and

Descendants

Adjective

ocus (comparative nessa, superlative nessam)

  2. near
    • c. 845, St Gall Glosses on Priscian, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1975, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, pp. 49–224, Sg. 138a2, 3
      écndairc cian ... ecṅdairc ocus
      (glosses personae absenti vel quasi absenti; lit. “absent near”, i.e. though present regarded as absent)
    • c. 895–901, Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii, published in Bethu Phátraic: The tripartite life of Patrick (1939, Hodges, Figgis), edited and with translations by Kathleen Mulchrone, line 2047
      "Fot·uigeb-sa dano," ol Pátraic, "hi cill napa ro-ocus arnapa dimicnithi: nípa ró-chian dano co róastar immathigid etronn."
      "I will leave you, then," said Patrick, "in a church that shall not be very near lest you be despised [???], and shall not be very far, so that mutual visiting between us may be continued.
  3. close (of a relationship)
    • 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. 9c32
      is acus a coibdelag
      near is their kinship
    • c. 808, Félire Oengusso, Epilogue, line 229; republished as Whitley Stokes, transl., Félire Óengusso Céli Dé: The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee, Harrison & Sons, 1905:
      Ind rígrad do·ruirmius, is ocus ar cundu, iar tuirim a féle do·rimiub a ndrungu.
      The kingsfolk I have recounted, close is our friendship; after reckoning their feasts, I will number their troops.

Usage notes

Often followed by preposition do.

Inflection

u-stem
singular masculine feminine neuter
nominative ocus ocus ocus
vocative ocus
accusative ocus ocuis
genitive ocuis oicse ocuis
dative ocus ocuis ocus
plural masculine feminine/neuter
nominative oicsi oicsi
vocative oicsi
accusative oicsi
genitive *
dative oicsib

*not attested in Old Irish; same as nominative singular masculine in Middle Irish

Descendants

Noun

ocus ?

  2. nearness, proximity
    • 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. 23b41
      imb i céin fa i n-accus beo-sa
      whether I be far or near

Inflection

Only the dative singular ocus is used due to generally requiring the preposition i (“in”).

Mutation

Mutation of ocus
radical lenition nasalization
ocus
(pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)		 ocus n-ocus

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

References

  1. ^ Hamp, Eric (1981) “Varia III”, in Ériu‎[1], volume 32, Royal Irish Academy, →ISSN, →JSTOR, retrieved 9 February 2024, pages 158–162
  2. ^ Griffith, Aaron (2024) “Grammaticalization and the etymology of Old Irish ocus 'and'”, in Studia Celtica Posnaniensia, volume 9, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 162–188

Further reading

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