láech

Old Irish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin lāicus (“lay, layman, laic”), from Ancient Greek λαϊκός (laïkós, “of the people”), from λαός (laós, “the people”). The sense warrior may be from Proto-Celtic *lāikos (Matasović, 2009).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈl̪aːi̯x/

Noun

láech m

1. warrior
2. layman

Inflection

Masculine o-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	láech	láechL	laíchL
vocative	laích	láechL	láechuH
accusative	láechN	láechL	láechuH
genitive	laíchL	láech	láechN
dative	láechL	láechaib	láechaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• laíches

Descendants

• Irish: laoch
• Scottish Gaelic: laoch

Mutation

Mutation of láech

radical	lenition	nasalization
láech also lláech in h-prothesis environments	láech pronounced with /l-/	láech also lláech

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.