“?” represents a single letter (any letter)
“*” represents a string of letters (any letters)
For example, to search for words ending in “acht”, write
*acht
To search for words starting with “mor” and ending in “d”, write:
mor*d
And to search for all two-letter words, write:
??
If you don't find a word, it is well worth trying again with ‘*’ added. For example, searching for “loaf*” finds:
loaf (small) | aircháelán |
loaf (small) | srubán |
Tickboxes on the search form provide another way of placing a wildcard, “*”, before or after the search word.
The spelling used is that of the headword in the Dictionary of the Irish Language.
Learn to outsmart the vagaries of Old-Irish spelling. If you do not find your word with “áe”, try: ai, oi, oe, with and without accents. Here is a list of examples, most of them supplied by David Stifter:
ae :: ai, oi, oe, aei, ao, aoi [and vice-versa]
é :: éi, éa
-nd :: -nn
-th :: -d
f (lenited) :: 0 (e.g. nemfírinnech = nemírinnech)
éo :: éu (e.g. indéoin, indéuin)
°iCe, °iCi :: °Ce, °Ci (e.g. sétche, séitche)
°CaiC :: °CiC (e.g. Notlaic, Notlic)
tch :: tg (e.g. séitge, séitche)
euch :: eoch :: ech (e.g. Euchu, Eochu, Echu)
ld :: ll (e.g. acaldam, acallam)
mb :: mm (camb, camm)
m :: mm (cam)
Do not forget, when you are dealing with later MSS, that:
d, b, g may stand for t, p, c;
dh, bh, gh for d, b, g;
cc, tt at the beginning may stand for nasalised c, t /g, d/;
lenition may not be written in c, t = ch, th;
etc.
British rather than US spelling is used - i.e. “plough, defence, labour” instead of “plow, defense, labor”, etc.
noun | noun |
verb | verb |
adj. | adjective |
adv. | adverb |
prep. | preposition |
pp. | prepositional pronoun |
pron. | pronoun |
num. | numeral |
conj. | conjunction |
part. | particle |
excl. | exclamation |
int. | interrogative |
phr. | phrase |
This glossary is primarily intended as an English-language access to Old Irish. Please refer to the Dictionary of the Irish Language and/or to the Lexique étymologique de l'irlandais ancien (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies) for detailed description and analysis of the words contained herein.
A few words to help you find your way round the search forms: