Appendix:Old Irish class A II present verbs

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Old Irish class A II verbs (Strachan's B2, McCone's W2) are derived from Proto-Celtic verbs ending in *-īti, which are derived from Proto-Indo-European verbs ending in *-éyeti or *-éh₁yeti and correspond to the Latin second conjugation and Ancient Greek verbs in -έω (-éō). The final consonant of the stem is palatalized throughout, meaning that any consonant-initial endings also start with a palatalized consonant.

McCone further classifies A II verbs into two subtypes, W2a and W2b, based on not just their present conjugation, but their corresponding nonpresent conjugation stems. W2b verbs such as ad·suidi, con·tuili, and the prototonic forms of fo·ceird tend to alternate between u in the present and f-future and o in the s-preterite and a-subjunctive. Many of these descend from Proto-Indo-European causative or denominative verbs in the o-grade, e.g. (ad)·suidi from *sodéyeti (compare Proto-Germanic *satjaną, Proto-Slavic *saditi, Sanskrit सादयति (sādayati)).

All other A II verbs are W2a and do not feature such a vowel alternation.

See Category:Old Irish class A II present verbs for a list of verbs belonging to this class.

Nondeponent endings

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A sample verb for this class is léicid (to leave behind, let). The endings are as follows:

Present indicative
1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
Absolute léiciu / léicim léici léicid léicmi léicthe léicit léicthir léictir
Conjunct ·léiciu / ·léicim ·léici ·léici ·léicem ·léicid ·léicet ·léicther ·léicter
Relative léices léicme léicte léicther léicter
Imperfect indicative
1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
·léicinn ·léicthea ·léiced ·léicmis ·léicthe ·léictis ·léicthe ·léictis
Imperative
2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
léic léiced léicem léicid léicet léicther léicter

See Appendix:Old Irish delenition for the change of ending-initial ⟨th⟩ to ⟨t⟩ after certain consonants.

In some verbs, a vowel is inserted (historically speaking, fails to be deleted) before consonant-initial endings. In this case, the initial consonant of the ending is not in most cases palatalized. An example is sluindid (to signify):

Present indicative
1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
Absolute sluindiu / sluindim sluindi sluindid sluindmi sluindithe sluindit sluindithir sluinditir
Conjunct ·sluindiu / ·sluindim ·sluindi ·sluindi ·sluindem ·sluindid ·sluindet ·sluindither ·sluinditer
Relative sluindes sluindme sluindite sluindither sluinditer
Imperfect indicative
1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
·sluindinn ·sluindithea ·sluinded ·sluindimis ·sluindithe ·sluinditis ·sluindithe ·sluinditis
Imperative
2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
sluind sluinded sluindem sluindid sluindet sluindither sluinditer

Some verbs show depalatalization of the final consonant, but the third-person singular conjunct ending -ai shows that they still belong to class A II, not class A I. An example is erbaid (entrust). This depalatalization was not necessarily consistent, as forms with palatalization of the final consonant are also found, and in many cases the attested spelling is ambiguous (e.g. ·erpi (second-person singular present conjunct), which could be either [ˈerʲbʲi] or [ˈerbɨ]).

Present indicative
1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
Absolute erbu / erbaim erbai erbaid erbmai erbthae erbait erbthair erbtair
Conjunct ·erbu / ·erbaim ·erbai ·erbai ·erbam ·erbaid ·erbat ·erbthar ·erbtar
Relative erbas erbmae erbtae erbthar erbtar
Imperfect indicative
1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
·erbainn ·erbtha ·erbad ·erbmais ·erbthae ·erbtais ·erbthae ·erbtais
Imperative
2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
erb erbad erbam erbaid erbat erbthar erbtar

Deponent endings

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A sample verb for this class is foilsigidir (to reveal). Almost all deponent verbs of this class – including those formed with the denominative suffix -igidir, which make up the majority of this group – take a linking vowel between the stem and many of the endings. The endings are as follows:

Present indicative
1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
Absolute foilsigur* foilsigther foilsigidir foilsigmir foilsigthe foilsigitir foilsigthir foilsigtir
Conjunct ·foilsigur* ·foilsigther ·foilsigedar ·foilsigmer ·foilsigid ·foilsigetar ·foilsigther ·foilsigter
Relative foilsigedar foilsigmer foilsigetar foilsigther foilsigter
* In practice, the nondeponent ending -im is much more common in verbs formed with the suffix -igidir.
Imperfect indicative
1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
·foilsiginn ·foilsigthea ·foilsiged ·foilsigmis ·foilsigthe ·foilsigtis ·foilsigthe ·foilsigtis
Imperative
2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
foilsigthe foilsiged foilsigem foilsigid foilsigetar foilsigther foilsigter

Some deponent verbs also show depalatalization of the stem-final consonant, e.g. ad·ágathar (to fear); here again, depalatalization is inconsistent, and forms with a palatalized consonant are also found.

Present indicative
1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
Conjunct (ad)·águr (ad)·ágthar (ad)·ágathar* (ad)·ágmar (ad)·ágaid (ad)·ágatar* (ad)·ágthar* (ad)·ágtar*
* Also (or only) attested with a palatalized g or gt(h) cluster: (ad)·áigethar, (ad)·áigetar, (ad)·áigther, (ad)·áigter.
Imperfect indicative
1st sg. 2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
(ad)·ágainn (ad)·ágtha (ad)·ágad (ad)·ágmais (ad)·ágthae (ad)·ágtais* (ad)·ágthae (ad)·ágtais
* Attested as ·áigtis with a palatalized gt cluster.
Imperative
2nd sg. 3rd sg. 1st pl. 2nd pl. 3rd pl. Passive singular Passive plural
ágthae* ágad ágam(ar) ágaid ágatar ágthar ágtar
* Attested as áigthe with a palatalized gth cluster.

Further reading

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