n-íírr

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈn͈ʲi.ir͈ʲ]

Verb

·n-íírr

1. Eclipsed form of ·íírr.

Usage notes

The normalized spelling in n-íírr (“will you slay?”) reflects the manuscript spelling inní írr at Ml. 77^a10, which the editors of Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus interpret as in (question particle) + ní (negative particle) + ·írr (“you sg will slay”) and translate it “wilt Thou not slay?” However, the negative interrogative particles in Old Irish are inná, innád, and (in the Milan glosses sometimes) inní nád (literally “is it something that…not”), but not inní alone, so Thurneysen interprets the manuscript's inní írr as in n-íírr, i.e. in (interrogative particle) plus the eclipsed form of ·íírr (“you sg will slay”). The translation is thus “will you slay?” as a positive question rather than a negative one.

At Ml. 77^a15 the same phrase is spelled inínírr, which modern editors interpret as an erroneous transposition of two letters, the intended reading being inníírr. Here again, Stokes and Strachan interpret this as the negative question “wilt Thou not slay?” but it is more likely to be the positive question “will you sg slay?”. Both gloss 10 and gloss 15 are referring to the Latin phrase ne occideris, which is not a question at all but a negative hortative “may you not slay”.

The double í is difficult to interpret; etymologically one expects two short vowels in hiatus [i.i], and Thurneysen normalizes the spelling to ·iirr.