féin

See also: fein, fèin, feîn, féin-, and fèin-

Irish

Etymology 1

From Old Irish féin, from Proto-Celtic *swe- (from Proto-Indo-European *swé (oneself)) + *sin (anaphoric pronoun).[1]

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /heːnʲ/, /fʲeːnʲ/

Pronoun

féin

  1. self
    féinmyself (both emphatic and reflexive)
    sinn féinourselves; we ourselves
  2. own
    mo theach féinmy own house
Derived terms

Adverb

féin

  1. even, only
    má tá féineven if it is

Etymology 2

Noun

féin

  1. inflection of féan:
    1. vocative and genitive singular
    2. nominative and dative plural

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
féin fhéin bhféin
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

References

  1. Peter Schrijver (1997) Studies in the History of Celtic Pronouns and Particles (Maynooth Studies in Celtic Linguistics; II), Maynooth: The Department of Old Irish, National University of Ireland, →ISBN, § III.2, pages 75–76

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *swe- (from Proto-Indo-European *swé (oneself)) + *sin (anaphoric pronoun).[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fʲeːnʲ/

Pronoun

féin

  1. self

Inflection

féinfadéincéincadéin
1 sg. féin fadéin céin cadéin
2 sg. féin fadéin
3 sg. m./n. fes(s)in, feis(s)in
féin
fades(s)in, fadeis(s)in
fadéne
ces(s)in, ceis(s)in cades(s)in, cadeis(s)in
3 sg. f. fes(s)in, feis(s)in, fissin
fes(s)ine, feisine, feis(s)ne
fadisin
fade(is)sne
1 pl. fes(s)ine fanis(s)in canisin
2 pl. fes(s)in, feis(s)in
feis(s)ne
fanis(s)in
3 pl. fes(s)in, feis(s)in
fes(s)ine, feisine, feis(s)ne
fades(s)in, fadeis(s)in, fedesin
fades(s)ine, fadeisine, fadeis(s)ne
ceisne cades(s)in, cadeis(s)in
cades(s)ine, cadeisine, cadesne

Usage notes

The difference between the féin/céin set and the fadéin/cadéin set appears to be that the latter are contrastively reflexive (‘oneself as opposed to someone else’) while the former do not suggest any contrast. The difference between the f- forms and the c- forms may be that the latter have a connotation of ‘even/also oneself’ that the former do not have.[2]

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
RadicalLenitionNasalization
féin ḟéin féin
pronounced with /v(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

References

  1. Peter Schrijver (1997) Studies in the History of Celtic Pronouns and Particles (Maynooth Studies in Celtic Linguistics; II), Maynooth: The Department of Old Irish, National University of Ireland, →ISBN, § III.2, pages 75–76
  2. Peter Schrijver (1997) Studies in the History of Celtic Pronouns and Particles (Maynooth Studies in Celtic Linguistics; II), Maynooth: The Department of Old Irish, National University of Ireland, →ISBN, §§ III.2, III.4, pages 72, 78–83
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