27-491: Ó h-Aichir is an Irish surname also rendered as Ó hEithir , Ó Hehir , O'Hehir , Hehir , or Hare . It is a sept of Clare which originated with the Uí Fidhgheinte of Limerick . People with this surname or a variant of it include: Irish surname A formal Irish name consists of a given name and a surname . In the Irish language , most surnames are patronymic surnames (distinct from patronyms , which are seen in Icelandic names for example). The form of
54-570: A "her" and a "their", which cause h-prothesis and eclipsis respectively. Lenition caused stops and *m to become fricatives, *s to debuccalise to [h] , *f to elide , and the liquids *l , *n , *r to split into fortis and lenis variants. Though by the end of the Middle Irish period lenited *m largely lost its nasal quality, lenited *t debuccalised to [h] , and lenited *d lost its coronal articulation. Lenition did not only occur word initially, though non-initial lenition
81-404: A causes lenition when used as "his" ( a bhád ), causes eclipsis when used as "their" ( a mbád ), and neither when used as "her" ( a bád ). The numbers that trigger eclipsis (the noun being in the singular) are: Before a vowel in is written instead of i n- . The genitive plural article na eclipses a following noun: In western and southern dialects, nouns beginning with
108-444: A following word initial *s was lenited to [h] which (combined with the loss of the *-ā , *-ī ) devoiced the preceding *-d to *-t . The prothetic ⟨h⟩ of vowel initial words has two origins, the first being epenthetic to avoid vowel hiatus, and the second being the fossilised remnant of a historic consonant. For example, the *s of Proto-Celtic *esyās "her" was lenited between vowels to [h] . Overtime *esyās
135-405: A name formed by the first name (or nickname), followed by the father and the paternal grandfather's name, both in the genitive case , e.g. Seán Ó Cathasaigh (Seán O'Casey), son of Pól , son of Séamus , would be known to his neighbours as Seán Phóil Shéamuis . Occasionally, if the mother or grandmother was a well-known person locally, her name may be used instead. If the mother's name
162-535: A name in the genitive case, e.g. Mac Giolla Phádraig , Ó Maoil Eoin . Many Irish people use English (or anglicised ) forms of their names in English-language contexts and Irish forms in Irish-language contexts. The Irish names of some people more famous under their English names include: Other people are generally better known by their Irish name than by their English name, including
189-447: A noncoronal consonant are eclipsed after combinations of preposition + article in the singular (except den , don , and sa(n) , which trigger lenition) In environments where lenition occurs a vowel initial word remains unchanged: However, In environments where neither eclipsis nor lenition is expected, an initial vowel may acquire a prothetic consonant. For example, a vowel-initial masculine singular nominative noun requires
216-511: A surname varies according to whether its bearer is a man, a woman, or a woman married to a man, who adopts his surname. An alternative traditional naming convention consists of the first name followed by a double patronym, usually with the father and grandfather's names. This convention is not used for official purposes but is generalized in Gaeltachtaí (Irish-speaking areas) and also survives in some rural non- Gaeltacht areas. Sometimes
243-520: A voiced stop into nasal stops, nasal stops followed by a voiceless stop into voiced plosives, nasal stops followed by a voiceless labial fricative into a voiced fricative, and words which have lost their final nasal add an ⟨n-⟩ to vowel initial words. These cluster reductions did not only occur word initially, though non-initial coalescence was never grammaticised. For example, Proto-Celtic *lindos → lind → linn "pool", and *kʷenkʷe → cóic → cúig "five". This table shows
270-581: A woman marrying Pól Mac Siúrtáin may choose to adopt Bean Mhic Siúrtáin or Mhic Siúrtáin as her surname. Mag , Nig , and Mhig are sometimes used instead of Mac , Nic , and Mhic before a vowel or ⟨fh⟩ (which is silent) followed by a vowel. Norman surnames formed by de (always lowercase; "of") followed by a name, e.g. de Búrca ( Burke ), de Paor ( Power ), or de hÍde ( Hide , Hyde ). Some names consist of Mac Giolla ("servant's son") or Ó Maoil ("follower's descendent") followed by
297-416: A word ended in a vowel and the next word began with a consonant + a vowel, the consonant lenited. Today, these former final vowels are usually elided, but the lenition of following consonants remains and has been grammaticised . For example, Proto-Celtic *esyo "his" caused the lenition of a following consonant due to its final vowel and its modern form a now causes lenition, keeping it distinct from
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#1732790320163324-483: Is blocked in these constructions if two coronals are adjacent. The singular form is used after numbers and is lenited in the following cases: Constructions of adjective + noun are written as compounds. In these constructions coronals are lenited even following other The possessive pronouns that trigger eclipsis are ár "our", bhur "your (pl.)", a "their" a can mean "his", "her" or "their", but these different uses can still be distinguished, since
351-426: Is followed by ⟨c⟩ or ⟨g⟩ . Thus the daughter of Seán Ó Dónaill has the surname Ní Dhónaill and the daughter of a Pól Mac Siúrtáin has the surname Nic Shiúrtáin . In Ulster it is common for a woman who adopts her husband name to just use Ní or Nic rather than the forms seen below. If a woman marries a man, she may choose to take his surname. In this case, Ó
378-406: Is followed by a vowel, a (lowercase) ⟨h⟩ is attached to the vowel, e.g. Ó hUiginn (O'Higgins) or Ó hAodha (Hughes). A woman's surname replaces Ó with Ní (reduction of Iníon Uí "descendant's daughter") and Mac with Nic (reduction of Iníon Mhic "son's daughter"). In both cases the following name undergoes lenition , except for when Nic
405-489: Is replaced by Bean Uí ("descendant's wife") and Mac by Bean Mhic ("son's wife"). In both cases Bean may be omitted, which results in Uí or Mhic . In both cases the following name undergoes lenition , except for when Mhic is followed by ⟨c⟩ or ⟨g⟩ . Thus a woman marrying Seán Ó Dónaill may choose to adopt Bean Uí Dhónaill or Uí Dhónaill as her surname and
432-465: Is used, then the maternal grandfather or grandmother may follow it, e.g. Máire Sally Eoghain . This system can be particularly useful for distinguishing people who live in the same area and who share a common surname but are not closely related, e.g. two people named John McEldowney might be known as "John Patsy Dan" and "John Mary Philip" respectively. Even the Irish forms sometimes survive in parts of
459-536: The Sperrins , so that among the principal families of Glenullin some branches are known by father/grandfather forms such as Pháidí Shéamais or Bhrian Dhónaill . A man's surname is generally formed by Ó ("descendant"; historically Ua ) or Mac ("son") followed by a name or definite noun (often a profession) in the genitive case , e.g. Ó Dónaill (literally "descendant of Dónall ") and Mac Siúrtáin (literally "son of Jordan"). When Ó
486-610: The orthographical and phonological effects of lenition, eclipsis, h-prothesis, and t-prothesis. Vowels are represented by ⟨v⟩ and /V/ . Consonants are broad before ⟨a, á, o, ó, u, ú⟩ and slender before ⟨e, é, i, í⟩ . See also Irish orthography which has a table showing non-initial lenited consonants which elided or vocalised to form diphthongs or long vowels. * Not all dialects contrast lenited ⟨l⟩ and ⟨n⟩ from their unlenited forms. See Irish Phonology#Fortis and lenis sonorants . The definite article triggers
513-515: The Proto-Celtic masculine definite article *sindos . Before vowels, the *s of the ending *-os was lenited to [h] , which (combined with the loss of the *-o- ) devoiced the preceding *-d- to *-t . The prosthetic ⟨t⟩ of ⟨s⟩ initial words is a fossilised fragment of the d of Proto-Celtic nominative feminine definite article *sindā and masculine genitive definite article *sindī . Since they ended in vowels,
540-811: The following: Irish initial mutations Irish , like all modern Celtic languages , is characterised by its initial consonant mutations . These mutations affect the initial consonant of a word under specific morphological and syntactic conditions. The mutations are an important tool in understanding the relationship between two words and can differentiate various meanings. Irish, like Scottish Gaelic and Manx , features two initial consonant mutations: lenition ( Irish : séimhiú [ˈʃeːvʲuː] ) and eclipsis ( urú [ˈʊɾˠuː] ) (the alternative names, aspiration for lenition and nasalisation for eclipsis, are also used, but those terms are misleading). Originally these mutations were phonologically governed external sandhi effects: lenition
567-468: The former final nasals have been elided, but still have an effect on the pronunciation of a following consonant, which has been grammaticised . For example, the Proto-Celtic genitive plural of the definite article *sindoisom has lost its final nasal and been reduced to na but it now causes the eclipsis of a following consonant or the prothesis of ⟨n-⟩ to a vowel. The cluster reductions involved in eclipsis turned nasal stops followed by
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#1732790320163594-467: The lenition of: Lenition is blocked when a coronal consonant is preceded by an . Instead of leniting to /h/ , after the definite article, /sˠ, ʃ/ become /t̪ˠ, tʲ/ (written ⟨ts⟩ ): The possessive pronouns that trigger lenition are mo "my", do "your (sg.)", a "his" These were originally preceded by the particle do and often still are in Munster. Lenition
621-715: The name of the mother or grandmother may be used instead of the father or grandfather. A first name may be modified by an adjective to distinguish its bearer from other people with the same name. Mór ("big") and Óg ("young") are used to distinguish parent and child, like " senior " and " junior " are used in English , but are placed between the given name and the surname, e.g. Seán Óg Ó Súilleabháin corresponds to "John O'Sullivan Jr." (anglicised surnames often omit ⟨O'⟩ , leaving no trace of original Ó ). The word Beag ("little") can be used in place of Óg . This does not necessarily indicate that
648-418: The younger person is smaller in stature, merely younger than their parent or in some cases to imply a baby was small, possibly premature , at birth. Adjectives denoting hair colour may also be used, especially informally, e.g. Pádraig Rua ("red-haired Patrick"), Máire Bhán ("fair-haired Mary"). Colloquially in Gaeltachtaí (Irish-speaking areas) and some other areas it remains customary to use
675-501: Was caused by a consonant being between two vowels, and eclipsis when a nasal preceded an obstruent , including at the beginning of a word. Irish also features t- prothesis and h-prothesis, related phenomena which affect vowel-initial words. See Irish phonology for a discussion of the symbols used on this page. Lenition as an initial mutation originally stems from the historical allophonic lenition of an intervocalic consonant, both word internally and across word boundaries, i.e if
702-402: Was never grammaticised. For example Proto-Celtic *knāmis → cnáim → cnáimh "bone", and *abalnā → aball → abhaill "apple tree". While it is not initially apparent, the prothesis of ⟨t⟩ and ⟨h⟩ stems from historical lenition combined with vowel reduction. The prosthetic ⟨t⟩ - of vowel initial words is a fossilised fragment of
729-420: Was reduced to a but the [h] remains when it is followed by a vowel initial word but is now written as part of the following word. Eclipsis originally stems from the historical coalescence of consonant clusters beginning with a nasal, both word internally and across word boundaries, i.e if a word ended in a nasal and the next word began with a stop or labial fricative, they would coalesce. Today, many of
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