caillech

Old Irish

Etymology

From caille (“veil”) +‎ -ach.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈka.l̠ʲəx/
  • (Blasse) [ˈka.l̠ʲex]
  • (Griffith) [ˈka.l̠ʲəx]

Noun

caillech f (genitive caillige, nominative plural caillecha)

1. nun
2. old woman

Declension

Feminine ā-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	caillechL	cailligL	caillechaH
vocative	caillechL	cailligL	caillechaH
accusative	cailligN	cailligL	caillechaH
genitive	cailligeH	caillechL	caillechN
dative	cailligL	caillechaib	caillechaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: cailleach
• Manx: caillagh
• Scottish Gaelic: cailleach
  • → Scots: cailleach
    • → English: cailleach, Cailleach

Mutation

Mutation of caillech

radical	lenition	nasalization
caillech	chaillech	caillech pronounced with /ɡ-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “caillech”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language