Omission of the substantivising particle in Old Irish

Abstract

[Professor David Greene (1915–81) had a special interest in the syntax and etymology of Irish numerals, and contributed a chapter on the Celtic languages to Indo-European Numerals (ed. Jadranka Gvozdanović, Mouton De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1992; repr. 2011), 497–554. In the late 1970s he was in regular attendance at a seminar on the Triads of Ireland which I gave at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, and — prompted by discussion at the seminar — wrote the note published here. I came across it recently during the course of my preparation of an edition of this text, which I hope to complete within a few years. After discussion with my colleagues at the Institute, I felt that it would be appropriate to submit Professor Greene’s note to Celtica, even after such a long time-gap. No changes have been made to his text, apart from the expansion and updating of the references. Fergus Kelly].