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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
- McCone, Kim (1997) The Early Irish Verb (Maynooth Monographs 1), 2nd edition, Maynooth: An Sagart, →ISBN, page 27
- Strachan, John, Bergin, Osborn (1949) Old-Irish Paradigms and Selections from the Old-Irish Glosses, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, →ISBN, pages 34–43
- Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940, reprinted 2017) D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, pages 352–79