Goídel

See also: Goidel

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *Guɨðel (the ancestor of Welsh Gwyddel (“Irishman”)), from Proto-Celtic *weidus (“wild”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“wood, wilderness”).^[1]

Medieval Irish traditions, including the Lebor Gabála Érenn, trace the origin of the Goídels to an eponymous ancestor, Goídel Glas, but this is not held to be the actual etymology of the word.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡoːi̯ðʲel/

Noun

Goídel m (genitive Goídil, nominative plural Goídil)

1. Gael

Inflection

Masculine o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	Goídel	GoídelL	GoídilL
Vocative	Goídil	GoídelL	GoídeluH
Accusative	GoídelN	GoídelL	GoídeluH
Genitive	GoídilL	Goídel	GoídelN
Dative	GoídiulL	Goídelaib	Goídelaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Related terms

• Goídelc

Descendants

• Middle Irish: Goídel, Gaídel
  • Irish: Gaoidheal, Gael
  • Manx: Gael
  • Scottish Gaelic: Gàidheal, earlier also Gaoidheal

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
Goídel	Goídel pronounced with /ɣ(ʲ)-/	nGoídel
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

1. Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 408

Further reading

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