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In the Annals of the Four Masters, I find a listing of a clann name inexplicably prefixed by an “n”; any idea why? (I note the other clann named lacks this prefix):
Clann Ailin, & clann [color=red]n[/color]daibheitt do breith chathaoir mhic Seain Oicc hi c-cenn Gall go Doire …
“Clan Ailin and Clan Daibheid brought Cahir, son of Sean Og, to the Foreigners, to Derry…”
In the Annals of the Four Masters, I find a listing of a clann name inexplicably prefixed by an “n”; any idea why? (I note the other clann named lacks this prefix):
Clann Ailin, & clann [color=red]n[/color]daibheitt do breith chathaoir mhic Seain Oicc hi c-cenn Gall go Doire …
“Clan Ailin and Clan Daibheid brought Cahir, son of Sean Og, to the Foreigners, to Derry…”
clann, originally cland – usually nd > nn and maybe further -nn d- > -nn n-
Maybe Clann nDaibheitt /klaN Nav´ed´/ is a phonological instance of eclipses (the precursor of grammatical eclipsis)
Is “clann” in the accusative case? it would explain the n-, I guess…
It’s not in its accusative form, clainn, although you could still be right, as use of the accusitive was not necessary if the accusative is the object of a “do + verbal noun” construction in Classical Irish. Also prose (rather than poetry) did not follow the classical standard always, and often dropped the accusative form.
It might also be a genitive plural. We’d need to see the whole sentence.
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