Cellach

See also: cellach

Old Irish

Etymology

From Primitive Irish ᚊᚓᚅᚔᚂᚑᚉᚔ (qeniloci); the first element of this being usually identified as *kʷennom (“head”). The ᚔ (i) in the ogam spelling cannot represent /i/ (otherwise *Cillech would have resulted) nor a palatalizing schwa (otherwise one would expect *Ceillech). It must instead represent a non-palatal schwa. The second element is ancestral to Middle Irish loch (“dark”).

Proper noun

Cellach m (genitive Cellaig)

1. a male given name

Inflection

Masculine o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	Cellach	—	—
Vocative	Cellaig	—	—
Accusative	CellachN	—	—
Genitive	CellaigL	—	—
Dative	*CelluchL	—	—
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Middle Irish: Cellach
  • Irish: Ceallach
    • → English: Kelly, Kelley (from the genitive singular)

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
Cellach	Chellach	Cellach pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.