sna
Translingual
Irish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sˠnˠə/
Etymology 1
From Old Irish isnaib (“in the m or f or n pl dative”), isna (“into the m or f or n pl accusative”).
Contraction
sna (triggers h-prothesis)
Usage notes
This contraction is obligatory, i.e. *i na never appears uncontracted. Triggers h-prothesis of a following vowel.
Often understood to be a contraction of ins na, but the form sna was in common use by the 12th century and accepted in Classical Gaelic poetry while ins is a later innovation with the -n- reintroduced by analogy.
Related terms
| 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. | ||||||||||
References
- McKenna, Lambert, editor (1944), Bardic Syntactical Tracts, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, page 113: “Before pl. art. i n- gives is na, ’sna; in such cases a h- gives as na. (…) Before sg. art. i n- is isin, san (often sa before consonants).”
- G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), chapter I, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
Etymology 2
Extracted from a reinterpretation of forms like ins na, as na, gus na, leis na as in/a/gu/le sna.
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.