Old Irish

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Etymology

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From ess- +‎ beirid. The same construction as Latin efferō, which can mean (among other things) proclaim, declare, and Ancient Greek ἐκφέρω (ekphérō), which can mean disclose.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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as·beir (prototonic ·epir, verbal noun epert)

  1. to say, utter [with fri ‘to’]
    • 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. 13c13
      érbarid autem uerba as·beir in tóis anfoirbthe.
      Moreover, you pl should not utter words which the imperfect folk utters.
    • 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. 26b19
      At·beirmis frib.
      We used to say it to you pl.
    • c. 850, Carlsruhe Glosses on St Augustine’s Soliloquia, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. 2, pp. 1–9, Acr. 14a2
      Bés as·bera-su as n‑ai⟨n⟩m dosom animus ci at·bela.
      Maybe you would say that animus is its name though it may die.
  2. to mention
    • 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. 28a20
      As·bertar a n-anman arna gaba nech desimrecht diib.
      Their names are mentioned that no one may take example from them.
  3. to speak (a language)
    • 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. 12d6
      ar ní tucci a mbéelre as·biur
      for he does not understand the language I speak

For more quotations using this term, see Citations:asbeir.

Usage notes

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The present and imperfect indicative ro-forms as·robair, as·robarad mean can say, could say.

Conjugation

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Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Middle Irish: at·beir

Mutation

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Internal:

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
as·beir as·beir
pronounced with /-β(ʲ)-/
as·mbeir
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

External:

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
as·beir
(pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)
unchanged n-as·beir
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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