ess-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ess"

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *exs-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”).

Prefix

ess- (pretonic as-)

  1. ex-, out
    ‎ess- (“out”) + ‎beirid (“to bring, carry”) → ‎as·beir (“to say”, literally “bring out”)
    ‎ess- (“out”) + ‎renaid (“to sell”) → ‎as·ren (“pay (off)”, literally “sell out”)
    ‎ess- (“out”) + ‎éirge (“rising”) → ‎esséirge (“resurrection”, literally “rising out”)
  2. privative prefix: non-, dis-
    ‎ess- (“non-”) + ‎carae (“friend”) → ‎escarae (“enemy”, literally “non-friend”)
    ‎ess- (“non-”) + ‎báe (“benefit, utility”) → ‎esbae (“uselessness”)
    ‎ess- (“-less”) + ‎recht (“law”) → ‎eisrecht (“outlaw”, literally “lawless, i.e. not protected under the law”)
    ‎ess- (“-less”) + ‎tol (“desire”) → ‎etal (“pure, sinless”, literally “without desire”)

Usage notes

Originally, ess- manifested in the following distribution in stressed syllables:

  • ess- proper before vowels and s-
  • é- before resonants
  • e- before stops, blocking lenition

Already in Old Irish, however, ess- proper can be seen encroaching on the environments of its other allomorphs.

Derived terms

Old Irish terms prefixed with ess-

Descendants

  • Irish: eas-
  • Scottish Gaelic: eas-

Further reading

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