erbaid

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *erbyeti (“to entrust”). Possibly cognate with Old Irish orb (“heir”), Latin orbus (“bereft, parentless”), Ancient Greek ὀρφανός (orphanós, “orphan”), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌾𐌰 (arbja, “inheritance”), if the root of these words is Proto-Indo-European *h₁erbʰ- (“to bequeath”) rather than *h₃erbʰ- as usually reconstructed. However, the latter reconstruction can be retained if Pedersen is correct that the Old Irish verb comes not from Proto-Celtic *erbyeti but rather from *ɸare-orbyeti, with reinterpretation of the expected prototonic *·air’rbai as a simple conjunct ·erbai with new absolute forms built to it.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈerbiðʲ/

Verb

erbaid (conjunct ·erbai, verbal noun erbud)

1. to entrust (with do or fri + the people entrusted)

   Synonyms: ad·noí, do·imnai, léicid

   • 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. 10^b27

     is hed ro·erpad dom dom thoschid

     This is what was entrusted to me for my sustenance.

   • 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. 25^d20

     ro·creitsid-si a forcell forro·gelsam-ni dúib di laithiu brátho ɫ. ro·erbad dún-ni forcell do·thabirt díb-si i llaithiu bratho

     You have believed the testimony that we have testified unto you of Doomsday, or, we were entrusted to bear testimony of you on Doomsday.

   • 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. 8^c12

     amal as friss ro·airptha

     as they have been entrusted to them

   • c. 700–800 Táin Bó Cúailnge, from the Yellow Book of Lecan, published in The Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Yellow Book of Lecan, with variant readings from the Lebor na hUidre (1912, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, and Co.), edited by John Strachan and James George O'Keeffe, TBC-I 2865

     Is and-sin iarum erpais in leig togu dó, imbad buith fora huthar co cend mbliadna ⁊ beathu dó iarum, fa nert trí lá ⁊ trí n-aidchi fochétóir do imbirt fora náimdib.

     It is hereafter that [Fingin] the physician gave him [Cethern] a choice: a year-long illness after which [Cethern] can get help, or strength (effective immediately) for three days and three nights to use on his enemies.

2. to trust
   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 51^b10

     In tan as·mber Dauid “intellectum tibi dabo”, sech is arde són do·mbéra Día do neuch nod·n-eirbea ind ⁊ génas triit con·festar cid as imgabthi do dénum di ulc ⁊ cid as déinti dó di maith. Aithesc trá lesom insin a persin Dǽ.

     When David says, “I will give thee understanding”, that is a sign that God will give to everyone that will trust in him, and work through him, that he may know what evil he must avoid doing, and what good he must do. He has then here a reply in the person of God.

   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 51^b12

     ní ind ḟessin eirbthi, ⁊ nách dó du·aisilbi na nní do·gní, acht is do Dia

     it is not in himself that he trusts, and it is not to himself that he ascribes whatever he does, but it is to God

Inflection

Simple, class A II present, s preterite, f future, a subjunctive

		1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.	Passive sg.	Passive pl.
Present indicative	Abs.			erbaid; eirbthi (with suffixed pronoun -i)
	Conj.	·érpimm	·erpi	·erbai			·erbat
	Rel.
Imperfect indicative							·erbtis, ·erbtais
Preterite	Abs.			erpais
	Conj.						·eirpset	·erbad	·airptha
	Rel.
Perfect	Deut.						ro·eirpset	ro·erbad	ro·airptha
	Prot.			·rerb, ·reirb, ·rerp
Future	Abs.
	Conj.			·eirbea, ·erba
	Rel.
Conditional
Present subjunctive	Abs.
	Conj.					·irpaid
	Rel.							erpther
Past subjunctive		·erbainn
Imperative						erpid
Verbal noun		erbud
Past participle
Verbal of necessity

Derived terms

• con·erbai

Descendants

• Irish: earb
• Scottish Gaelic: earb

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
erbaid	unchanged	n-erbaid
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “erbaid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Pedersen, Holger (1913) Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen (in German), volume II, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, →ISBN, page 513