ocus

Middle Irish

Alternative forms

• acus

Etymology

From Old Irish ocus, see there for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (earlier) /ˈoɡus/, (later) /ˈoɡəs/

Conjunction

ocus (abbreviated ⁊)

1. and

Descendants

• Irish: agus
• Manx: as
• Scottish Gaelic: agus

Adverb

ocus

1. also

Quotations

• c. 1000, “The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig”, in Ernst Windisch, editor, Irische Texte, volume 1, published 1800, section 1:

  I n‑oen uair dana tancatar ocus techta Conchobair mic Nessa do chungid in chon chetna.

  At the same time, then, messengers came also from Conchobar Mac Nessa to ask for the same dog.

Mutation

Mutation of ocus

radical	lenition	nasalization
ocus (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)	unchanged	n-ocus

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Middle 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), “2 ocus”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Old Irish

Etymology

The adjective, at least, is from Proto-Celtic *adgostus (“near”), with the initial o- arising under the influence of oc (“at”). Cognate to Welsh agos. The second component is *gostus, derived from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰes- (“hand”) (cognate with Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír), Hittite 𒆠𒌍𒊬 (“ke-eš-šar”), Tocharian A tsar, Albanian dorë and Old Armenian ձեռն (jeṙn)).

Griffith separates the origins of the adjective and the conjunction, proposing that the conjunction is instead indeed a derivative of oc (“at”), more specifically as a contraction of occa as (literally “at it which is”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈo.ɡus/
  • (Blasse) [ˈo.ɡus]
  • (Griffith) [ˈo.ɡøs]

Conjunction

ocus (abbreviated ⁊)

2. and

Descendants

• Middle Irish: ocus, acus
  • Irish: agus
  • Manx: as
  • Scottish Gaelic: agus

Adjective

ocus (comparative nessa, superlative nessam)

2. near
   • c. 845, St Gall Glosses on Priscian, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1975, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, pp. 49–224, Sg. 138^a2, 3

     écndairc cian ... ecṅdairc ocus

     (glosses personae absenti vel quasi absenti; lit. “absent near”, i.e. though present regarded as absent)

   • c. 895–901, Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii, line 2047; published in Kathleen Mulchrone, transl., Bethu Phátraic: The tripartite life of Patrick, Hodges, Figgis, 1939:

     "Fot·uigeb-sa dano," ol Pátraic, "hi cill napa ro-ocus arnapa dimicnithi: nípa ró-chian dano co róastar immathigid etronn."

     "I will leave you, then," said Patrick, "in a church that shall not be very near lest you be despised [???], and shall not be very far, so that mutual visiting between us may be continued.

3. close (of a relationship)
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 9^c32

     is acus a coibdelag

     near is their kinship

   • c. 808, Félire Oengusso, Epilogue, line 229; republished as Whitley Stokes, transl., Félire Óengusso Céli Dé: The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee, Harrison & Sons, 1905:

     Ind rígrad do·ruirmius, is ocus ar cundu, iar tuirim a féle do·rimiub a ndrungu.

     The kingsfolk I have recounted, close is our friendship; after reckoning their feasts, I will number their troops.

Usage notes

Often followed by preposition do.

Inflection

u-stem

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ocus	ocus	ocus
vocative	ocus
accusative	ocus	ocuis
genitive	ocuis	oicse	ocuis
dative	ocus	ocuis	ocus
plural	masculine	feminine/neuter
nominative	oicsi	oicsi
vocative	oicsi
accusative	oicsi
genitive	*
dative	oicsib

*not attested in Old Irish; same as nominative singular masculine in Middle Irish

Descendants

• Middle Irish: focus
  • Irish: fogas
  • Manx: faggys
  • Scottish Gaelic: fagas, faisg

Noun

ocus ?

2. nearness, proximity
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 23^b41

     imb i céin fa i n-accus beo-sa

     whether I be far or near

Inflection

Only the dative singular ocus is used due to generally requiring the preposition i (“in”).

Mutation

Mutation of ocus

radical	lenition	nasalization
ocus (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)	ocus	n-ocus

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), “1 ocus, acus “near””, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 ocus “and””, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) [1909], D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, translation of Handbuch des Alt-Irischen (in German), →ISBN, § 373, page 235; reprinted 2017