tosach

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish tosach (“beginning”), from Proto-Celtic *towissākos, from either Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- (“lead”) or *weyd- (“know, see”). Akin to taoiseach. Compare Scottish Gaelic toiseach/tòisich.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /t̪ˠəˈsˠɑx/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈt̪ˠɔsˠəx/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈt̪ˠʌsˠa(h)/

Noun

tosach m (genitive singular tosaigh, nominative plural tosaigh)

1. beginning, commencement

   Synonym: tús

   Tosach sláinte codladh. (proverb)

   Sleep is the first sign of recovery.

2. front, front end
3. (nautical) bow (of a boat)
4. face (of a building etc.)

   Synonyms: éadan, aghaidh

5. the lead (in a race etc.)

Declension

Declension of tosach

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative tosach tosaigh Vocative a thosaigh a thosacha Genitive tosaigh tosach Dative tosach tosaigh

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an tosach na tosaigh Genitive an tosaigh na dtosach Dative leis an tosach don tosach leis na tosaigh

Derived terms

• chun tosaigh (“(facing) forward(s)”)
• i dtosach (“in the beginning, in the front”)
• ó thosach (“from the beginning; at the beginning”)
• tosaí (“forward, striker (in football)”)
• urthosach (“very beginning; forefront, van”)

 

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
tosach	thosach	dtosach
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “tosaċ”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 747<
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “tosach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• tossach

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *towissākos, from either Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- (“lead”) or *weyd- (“know, see”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtosax]

Noun

tosach n (genitive tosaig, nominative plural tosge)

1. beginning

Inflection

Neuter o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	tosachN	tosachN	tosachL, tosge
Vocative	tosachN	tosachN	tosachL, tosge
Accusative	tosachN	tosachN	tosachL, tosge
Genitive	tosaigL	tosach	tosachN
Dative	tosuchL	toschib	toschib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• ar thosuch
• i tosuch

Descendants

• Irish: tosach
• Manx: toshiaght
• Scottish Gaelic: toiseach

Mutation

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

Further reading

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “tosach”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language