sna

See also: snä

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sˠnˠə/

Etymology 1

From earlier ins na, from Old Irish isna, from Proto-Celtic *in sindās (“in the pl accusative”).

Alternative forms

• ’sna

Contraction

sna (triggers h-prothesis)

1. Contraction of i + na.

   Tá sí ina cónaí sna hIndiacha Thiar.

   She lives in the West Indies

Usage notes

This contraction is obligatory, i.e. *i na never appears uncontracted. Triggers h-prothesis of a following vowel.

Related terms

Irish preposition contractions

Basic form	Contracted with							Copular forms
	an (“the sg”)	na (“the pl”)	mo (“my”)	do (“your”)	a (“his, her, their; which (present)”)	ár (“our”)	ar (“which (past)”)	(before consonant)	(present/future before vowel)	(past/conditional before vowel)
de (“from”)	den	de na desna*	de mo dem*	de do ded*, det*	dá	dár		dar	darb	darbh
do (“to, for”)	don	do na dosna*	do mo dom*	do do dod*, dot*	dá	dár		dar	darb	darbh
faoi (“under, about”)	faoin	faoi na	faoi mo	faoi do	faoina	faoinár	faoinar		faoinarb	faoinarbh
i (“in”)	sa, san	sna	i mo im*	i do id*, it*	ina	inár	inar		inarb	inarbh
le (“with”)	leis an	leis na	le mo lem*	le do led*, let*	lena	lenár	lenar		lenarb	lenarbh
ó (“from, since”)	ón	ó na ósna*	ó mo óm*	ó do ód*, ót*	óna	ónár	ónar		ónarb	ónarbh
trí (“through”)	tríd an	trí na	trí mo	trí do	trína	trínár	trínar		trínarb	trínarbh
*Dialectal.

Etymology 2

Extracted from a reinterpretation of ins na as in sna

Article

sna (triggers h-prothesis)

1. (Munster) Alternative form of na (“the pl”)

Usage notes

This form is found after the prepositions aige, de, do, and ó, especially in older texts. In modern texts, aiges na has the s on the preposition, while desna, dosna, and ósna are more commonly written as single words—to the extent they are found at all, since they occur only in Munster dialect and are not part of the standard written language.