part mod. Ir. nó go until . The orig. form is na > no, but exx. of nó occur fairly early, e.g. LU 9225.

Acc. to Ped. ii 318 - 319 , a development of O.Ir. na co n- used with the subj. mood to join a conditional clause to a neg. main clause, the orig. sense being ` unless ', passing by degrees into that of ` until '; the development was prob. influ- enced by the independent use of the conj. co n- `until'. During the Mid.Ir. period na co (no co, nó co) comes to mean simply until and to be used with an affirm. main clause, and with the indic. mood (generally with a pret. to denote an actual fact which occurred at the end of a period indicated in the main sent.).

(a) with subj. follg. neg. main clause: na co risat fir hErend . . . ni ricub sa arís in fer I will not go to the man again unless (until) the men of Ireland go, TBC 2890 = nogo ccomhraicit fir E., St. Conchobor ní thic immach | na co raib a lín sin chath (= until he has a sufficient force), 2394 = no go mbé sé lin don chath, Eg. 93. tiur-sa brethir . . . nachas-idnaidiub-sa ní bas mó ná co clórat fir hErend mo chomergi-sea I will not await them longer until (unless) the men of Ireland hear, 4939 = no co ccluinit, St. dothuṅg mo deo . . . na co mbérat (leg. mberat) ar écin samlaid nacha mbérat ar áis that until they get [the bull] by force, they shall not get it as a gift, 143 = no go mberit, St., Add. ni ba crecha gairdi | na co roisset ḟairggi, | na co ndernat airgni until they reach the sea, until they wreak ravages, CRR 22 (p. 30.12) ; cf. connach gēb-sa . . . na co raib, 20 . noco chreitiub-sa duit-siu . . . nó coro dusce Coin Culaind unless (until) thou awake C., LU 9225. nocha nfuil eneclann do neoc[h] dib . . . no co ndernat in coindelg, Laws iii 142.21 . na ro eschoitchennaigter nech . . . ón eclais na corup follus a pheccad (= donec peccatum eius clarescat), PH 5319 , cf. 7732 (no co), 7646 (no go), 7734 (nó go). nocho n-īb . . . no co n-eba-so for tús unless thou drink first, RC xxiv 178.15 . no co n-airimther ganim mara ni hairēmthar ar marbad do macaib ríg, xviii 173.12 .

(b) with indic. follg. affirm. sent.: iss and no adnaictís clanna Heremoin . . . no co tánic Cremthand, LU 4072. no érnitís cís dúinne . . . no co ranacais-[s]iu chucaind, PH 3918. co tard . . . bruid imdha lais, no co tard in mbruid do Dia, RC xviii 37.3 . nó gur ghein eo na dtrí dtobar | do bhí ceo ar aṅ gcreideamh, Dán Dé xii 4 . go raibhe amhlaidh sin . . . nó gur thuig sé cumhacht Dé, TSh. 3467. Folld. by pres.: nó go ndéanann mo chlí cionnta | ní fhéagann sí a dtiocfa tríd until my body commits sins, Dán Dé x 5 . ag seargadh . . . nó go dtuiteann 'na luaithreadh as a chéile, TSh. 4191.

The subj. is still used to denote contingency, purpose, etc.: biaidh mé san phéin se nó go bhfógra tusa, TSh. 5044. dénaidh bhar ndána [sic leg.] no go faichdis mo t[h]eadlach until (in order that) my household see (them), Ériu iv 178.16 . glacam ar sáith grádha nó go ttí an mhaidin, Prov. vii 18.