La diosa Ataecina y el nombre de la noche en antiguo irlandés

Abstract

In the last years the number of known inscriptions devoted to the Hispanic goddess Ataecina has greatly increased due to new findings. They have provided us with some new variations of her name, which can serve as the basis for a reconsideration of the etymologies so far proposed for it. A connection with Old Irish adaig 'night' has sometimes been advocated for, which after analysing the whole evidence now available proves to be right. Nevertheless, the etymology of that Irish word was itself in need of revision. Both seem to have been built on *adak -, analysable as the prefix ad- followed by the lE root *ak-. We would thus have here an innovation common to an Hispano-Celtic dialect and Goidelic.