gíall

See also: giall

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡʲiːa̯l͈/

Etymology 1

According to MacBain, possibly borrowed from Old English ceafl (“cheek, jaw”).

Noun

gíall m (genitive géill)

1. jaw

Inflection

Masculine o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	gíall	gíallL	géillL
Vocative	géill	gíallL	gíalluH
Accusative	gíallN	gíallL	gíalluH
Genitive	géillL	gíall	gíallN
Dative	gíallL	gíallaib	gíallaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: giall (“jaw, lower cheek”)
• Irish: giall (“jaw, jowl”)

References

• MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “giall”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎^[1], Stirling, →ISBN, page 193

Etymology 2

From Proto-Celtic *gēstlos (compare Welsh gwystl, Cornish gostel, Breton gouestl), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeystlo-, from *gʰeydʰ-.

Noun

gíall m (genitive géill)

1. human pledge, hostage

Inflection

Masculine o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	gíall	gíallL	géillL
Vocative	géill	gíallL	gíalluH
Accusative	gíallN	gíallL	gíalluH
Genitive	géillL	gíall	gíallN
Dative	gíallL	gíallaib	gíallaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Middle Irish: gíall
  • Irish: giall (“hostage, human pledge”)
  • Scottish Gaelic: giall
• ⇒ Middle Irish: gíallacht

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
gíall	gíall pronounced with /ɣ(ʲ)-/	ngíall
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), “1 gíall”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “2 gíall”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language