féin

See also: fein, fèin, feîn, féin-, and fèin-

Irish

Etymology 1

From Old Irish féin, from Proto-Celtic *swesin (from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“oneself”)) + *sin (anaphoric pronoun).

Alternative forms

• héin, fhéin, péin

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /heːnʲ/, /fʲeːnʲ/

Pronoun

féin

1. self

   mé féin ― myself (both emphatic and reflexive)

   sinn féin ― ourselves; we ourselves

2. own

   mo theach féin ― my own house

Derived terms

• féin-
• Sinn Féin

Adverb

féin

1. even, only

   má tá féin ― even if it is

Etymology 2

Noun

féin

1. inflection of féan:
   1. vocative and genitive singular
   2. nominative and dative plural

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
féin	fhéin	bhféin
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• “féin” at the Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926 of the Royal Irish Academy.
• “féin” in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, Irish Texts Society, 1st ed., 1904, by Patrick S. Dinneen, page 308.
• "féin" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

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Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *swesin (from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“oneself”)) + *sin (anaphoric pronoun).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fʲeːnʲ/

Pronoun

féin

1. self
   • 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. 17^b12

     Non·samlafammar frinn fesine.

     We will liken ourselves to ourselves.

2. (adjectival) one's own

Inflection

	féin	fadéin	céin	cadéin
1 sg.	féin	fadéin	céin	cadéin
2 sg.	féin	fadéin	—	—
3 sg. m./n.	fes(s)in, feis(s)in féin	fades(s)in, fadeis(s)in fadéne	ces(s)in, ceis(s)in	cades(s)in, cadeis(s)in
3 sg. f.	fes(s)in, feis(s)in, fissin fes(s)ine, feisine, feis(s)ne	fadisin fade(is)sne	—	—
1 pl.	fes(s)ine	fanis(s)in	—	canisin
2 pl.	fes(s)in, feis(s)in feis(s)ne	fanis(s)in	—	—
3 pl.	fes(s)in, feis(s)in fes(s)ine, feisine, feis(s)ne	fades(s)in, fadeis(s)in, fedesin fades(s)ine, fadeisine, fadeis(s)ne	ceisne	cades(s)in, cadeis(s)in cades(s)ine, cadeisine, cadesne

Usage notes

The difference between the féin/céin set and the fadéin/cadéin set appears to be that the latter are contrastively reflexive (‘oneself as opposed to someone else’) while the former do not suggest any contrast. The difference between the f- forms and the c- forms may be that the latter have a connotation of ‘even/also oneself’ that the former do not have.

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
féin	ḟéin	féin pronounced with /v(ʲ)-/
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), “fadéin, féin”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940, reprinted 2003)D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, § 485, pages 306–7
• Pedersen, Holger (1913) Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen (in German), volume II, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, →ISBN, page 153

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Old Norse

Noun

féin

1. definite nominative/accusative plural of fé