deac

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• deëc

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *dekam-kʷe (literally “and ten”), with loss of the first k by dissimilation.

Numeral

deäc

1. -teen

Usage notes

When modifying a noun to indicate an amount between 11 and 19, deac follows the noun while its accompanying numeral simultaneously precedes the noun.

• cóic bliadni deac ― 15 years (Ml. 16c10) (literally, “five years -teen”)

Descendants

• Middle Irish: déc
  • Irish: déag
  • Scottish Gaelic: deug
  • Manx: jeig

Mutation

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

Further reading

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