pecthach

Old Irish

Etymology

From peccad (“sin”) +‎ -ach.

Adjective

pecthach

1. sinful
   • 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. 36^a14

     .i. nant ní les in sommae pecthach

     i.e. that the sinful rich man is nothing to him.

Inflection

o/ā-stem
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	pecthach	pecthach	pecthach
Vocative	pecthaig* pecthach**
Accusative	pecthach	pecthaig
Genitive	pecthaig	pecthaige	pecthaig
Dative	pecthuch	pecthaig	pecthuch
Plural	Masculine	Feminine/neuter
Nominative	pecthaig	pecthacha
Vocative	pecthachu pecthacha†
Accusative	pecthachu pecthacha†
Genitive	pecthach
Dative	pecthachaib
Notes	*modifying a noun whose vocative is different from its nominative **modifying a noun whose vocative is identical to its nominative † not when substantivized

Noun

pecthach m (genitive pecthaig, nominative plural pecthaig)

1. sinner
   • 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. 2^a10

     .i. cid ara ndéntar pecthach díim?

     Why is a sinner made of me?

   • 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. 55^d11

     Is ed in sin fod·era in n‑erígim, "cid ara fodaim int aís fírían inna fochaidi, ⁊ cid ara mbiat in pecthaig isnaib soinmechaib?"

     That is what causes the complaint, "why do the righteous folk endure tribulations, and why are sinners in prosperity?".

Inflection

Masculine o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	pecthach	pecthachL	pecthaigL
Vocative	pecthaig	pecthachL	pecthachuH
Accusative	pecthachN	pecthachL	pecthachuH
Genitive	pecthaigL	pecthach	pecthachN
Dative	pecthachL	pecthachaib	pecthachaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Middle Irish: pecdach, pecthach
  • Irish: peacach
  • Scottish Gaelic: peacach

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
pecthach	phecthach or unchanged	pecthach pronounced with /b(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), “pecthach”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language