370 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



stone is partly concealed, by earth," and possibly ec is either wrongly read or 

 wrongly inscribed for oi. 



19. netas has the regular MS. equivalent in Oisseneus niocu Ndh Corh 

 Adamnan. The eponym corresponds to Dal Xiad Corb of the genealogies, 

 the dynastic house of the kingdom of Leinster. Here Netli, Niad, retains its 

 accent, and consequently its long vowel. 



20. In Cunanetas = ConnatJi, Connad, the accent is lost, and the atonic netas 

 becomes nath, nad. As a separate element prefixed to a genitive, netas 

 sometimes remains accented, e.g. Nicv Fer, Nia Nciir, Nia Segamon, Nia Corh, 

 but more often becomes proclitic, taking the atonic form nath, nad, oftener 

 with further weakening nat = at (cf. the modern Mleachlainn = Mael 



o 



Sechnaiil, Mo-riain = Mlriaiu = Mael lliaiu, '■'■ Morony " = ]\Iael Paianada, 



o 



beside Maoilre = Mael Muire). 



21. Genealogies afford the following instances of nath, nat: Nat Froich 

 {Fruiclh, Frakh) = Netta Vroicci, Nat Suird, Nat Sdr, Nastar, Nasar, Nazar 

 (in L. Arm. Nazarus and Nazarins) = Netta Sagru, Nathi = Nath I'^. (i gen. 

 of CO, ' yew '), Nad Brcch, Naithleach gen. ?, Nat Saiglenn, Nat Buidh, Nat 

 Sluaig {Sluaga, Slnagda). Nad Sluaig .i. nia, sl{naig) BB 168/325 gives the 

 traditional interpretation. 



22. Nit {nath, nad) is indeclinable, so that Nioth Fruich L. Arm., may be 

 an attempted archaism.^ But the various forms of Nat Sar have the genitive 

 -air in pedigrees, where analogous inflexions are often w^rongly introduced. 



23. From the stem net, we should expect the nom. {*nets) *nes, giving 0. 1. 

 *7ie ; but I find only nia, niae, -nio. However, Ncsluagha BB 222/3^33 can 

 hardly be a mere slip of the copyist.' 



24. The stem appears to occur in Neton, the name of the Aquitanian 

 " Mars," and in " Netoni d^o " of an inscr. at Trujillo (Holder), Nedc = *netios. 

 In composition it occurs in the Ogham names Netacunas, Netacari, Netacagi 

 (or -cagni). 



1 In other texts I only find N'at (iVarf) Frdich, indeclinable. 



- Since writing the above I have found nom. Kae, gen. yio(h and Xad Bidgb (= Nat Buidb), in 

 the Desi genealogy, BB 149;8'35, /8"11, 14, all three apparently refeiring lo the same person. 

 Here as in Xioth Fer, Nioth Fruich L. Arm., gen. )dutli. seems lo have been iransfeired trom num. 

 *niu. 



