From Middle Irish cairdech.[3] By surface analysis, cara + -ach.
cairdeach (genitive singular masculine cairdigh, genitive singular feminine cairdí, plural cairdeacha, comparative cairdí)
| Singular | Plural (m/f) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Masculine | Feminine | (strong noun) | (weak noun) |
| Nominative | cairdeach | chairdeach | cairdeacha; chairdeacha² | |
| Vocative | chairdigh | cairdeacha | ||
| Genitive | cairdí | cairdeacha | cairdeach | |
| Dative | cairdeach; chairdeach¹ |
chairdeach; chairdigh (archaic) |
cairdeacha; chairdeacha² | |
| Comparative | níos cairdí | |||
| Superlative | is cairdí | |||
¹ When the preceding noun is lenited and governed by the definite article.
² When the preceding noun ends in a slender consonant.
| Irish mutation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
| cairdeach | chairdeach | gcairdeach |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | ||