conj.
than
, after comparatives; prob. an extension of the
adverbial use, see 1 ol. Ol is always combined with an absol.
form (rel. in 3d pers.) of the subst. vb., which it eclipses. In
O.Ir. (a) the subst. vb. after ol generally represents the copula
and agrees in number and pers. with a follg. subject, its tense
being determined by that of the main sentence; but already
within the O.Ir period (b) the form oldaas (ol+3 s. rel.)
`
than he (she, it) is
' comes to be regarded as a conj. = `
than
'
and may be followed by another vb. in the absol. form.
Finally in Mid.Ir. oldaas (oldás) `than' comes to be used
without distinction of person, number or tense, though the
older inflected forms frequently occur down to the close of
the Mid.Ir. period. See
Ped. § 511
Anm. 1.
Already in O.Ir,
ol- begins to be replaced by in- (in Glosses found only in Ml.),
which before the close of the Mid.Ir. period supersedes it.
1 Exx. from Glosses:
(a) is bec as máo oldáu-sa,
Sg. 45a15
(gl. quam ego sum maiuscula est). is sochrudiu láam oldó-sa
hand is comelier than I,
Wb. 12a21
, cf.
25
. ni airegdu a persan-
som oldaas persan na n-abstal olchene,
18d14
. móa oldaas
óenṡillab,
Sg. 68b8
. oldate ind aingil, gl. melior angelis,
Wb.
32b5
. oillu oldate cóic cét fer, gl. plus quam quingentis fratri-
bus,
13b2
. oldatae,
Ml. 131a6
. ni pa gliccu felsub ola-mbieid-
si acuter than ye will be,
Wb. 26d26
. ba deidbiriu dúnni . . . ol
ṁboí do-som it were more reasonable for us . . . than it was for
him,
9c10
. air robtar lia sidi ol ṁbatar maicc israhel more
numerous than the Children of I.,
Ml. 123a8
.
(b) is follus . . . téte aitherrechtaigthe ní as hire oldáta maic
that a patronymic goes farther than sons,
Sg. 30b12
(where a
vb. is implied after oldáta). is móa dongní-som oldaas
dontlucham he does it more than we ask it (gl. superabundanter
quam petimus),
Wb. 21d9
. bid mó dongenae-siu oldaas ro-
foided cucut (super id quod dico facies),
32a25
.
2 Later lit.:
(a) is ansu limsa mo thech oldás mo trebad,
FB 26.
ba siniu oldás Cu Chulaind,
83
. uair bam siniu oltás
I was older than he,
LB 113a16
(
MacCarthy 68.24
). ba ḟeliu
duit th'immḟoluch oldás teiched,
TBC 1973.
cumba mesa
dúib oltás dam-sa,
PH 2042.
in tan bas giliu in grian . . .
oldaas innossa,
Ériu ii 142 § 155.
athnúigfither in uli dúl i
ndeilb bus áille . . . oldás in a form fairer than at present,
200.17
. ní théit immach . . . as diliu lind oldammit fadessin
any one dearer to us than ourselves,
TBC 199
= inā sind fein,
St. don tí ata ina ṡinser indíu oldáim-ne who is older to-day
than we,
LL 133a43
. at lia Greic oldáthe than ye are,
TTr.2
319
. bit lia ar mairb oldáte ar mbí,
FB 5.
is truma smachta
geimrid oldaiti smachta samraid,
Laws iv 88.25
. narb andsa
la cristaigib he oldait geinte not dearer to Christians than to
Gentiles,
PH 311
; rectius oldaas (O.Ir. ol mboí) la geinte.
cach óen . . . as sinu olmbí older than thou art,
Arch. iii 312 § 4
(olnambe v.l.). ba hamru delb Fothaid ol baí Oilill acht ba
hamru ben Oilella oldas ben Ḟothaid,
Fianaig. 6.14
,
15
. nir
bo mailli dolotar olmbatar in charpait (the men) came not more
slowly than the chariots,
TBC2
3537
(where olmb. takes the
place of another vb.). nir uo lugha mioscais na nGaoideal
lasna Gallaibh olttáitte the Irish were not less hated by the
English than they (the Burkes),
Hugh Roe 110.6 (f. 30 a)
, i.e.
the English hated them as much as they hated the Irish;
the construction is confused.
(b) folld. by another vb.: bid mó bas loscud don tig oldás
bas suillse don teglugh (i.e. the house is more likely to catch
fire than the household to get light),
FB 92.
is toisechu ro cet
in coecatmad psalm oldas ro cet in tre[s] psalm,
Hib. Min.
6.200
. comtis annso a phiana oldas mar ata fo secht its tor-
ments would be seven times worse than they are,
Ériu ii 142.3
.
The vb. follg. may be understood: is tusca ro tusmed tu fen
oltas Adam,
LB 110b19
(
MacCarthy 50.15
), cf.
Sg. 30b12
cited
above.
(c) Used absolutely: glainidir gol (.i. is glaine ol na dér),
ZCP iii 223 § 6
(Amra Senáin).