úath

See also: uath and uath-

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uːa̯θ/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *ɸowtus, from Proto-Indo-European *pew- (“to fear”).

Noun

úath ?

1. fear, horror, terror
2. a horrible or terrible thing

Inflection

Masculine u-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	úath	úathL	úathae
Vocative	úath	úathL	úathu
Accusative	úathN	úathL	úathu
Genitive	úathoH, úathaH	úatho, úatha	úathaeN
Dative	úathL	úathaib	úathaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• adfúath
• adúath
• adúathaigid
• úaithbélta
• úathach
• úathbásach
• úathgráin
• úathmaire
• úathmar

 

Descendants

• Middle Irish: úath (“horrible thing, horror”)
  • Irish: uath
  • Scottish Gaelic: uath
  • ⇒ Middle Irish: úathbás, úathfás
    • Irish: uafás
    • Scottish Gaelic: uabhas
• Middle Irish: fúath (“hatred”)
  • Irish: fuath
  • Scottish Gaelic: fuath

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 úath (‘fear, horror’)”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Etymology 2

Uncertain, multiple theories exist. What is certain is that the term never originally meant "whitethorn".

• Peter Schrijver believes the Ogam letter name is an extension of the meaning "fear", with the ogam letter originally denoting /ɸ/.
• Damian McManus notes another etymology deriving this letter name from Ancient Greek ἰῶτα (iôta); this etymology supposes that the letter originally denoted /j/. McManus is hesitant to accept this due to the need to posit a loanword. On the other hand, Deborah Hayden and David Stifter accept this etymology, but suggest Latin iōta as the immediate intermediary of the loan.

Noun

úath ?

1. name of the Ogham letter ᚆ (h)

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “3 úath (‘whitethorn’)”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Etymology 3

From úathad.

Noun

úath ?

1. a small number, a few

Descendants

• Irish: uath-

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “5 úath (‘small number, few’)”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
úath (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)	unchanged	n-úath
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.