arsa

ars, arsa

quoth, Irish ar, Early Irish ar. The s of the Gaelic really belongs to the pronoun sé or sì, said he, said she, "ar sé, ar sì". Cf. Middle Gaelic "ar san tres ughdar glic" - said the third wise author (san being the full art.; now ars an. The Early Irish forms bar and for, inquit, point to the root sver, say, English swear, answer. Stokes refers it to the root ver, verdh, English word, adducing Early Irish fordat, ordat, oldat, inquiunt, for the verdh root. Thurneysen objects that ol or for is a preposition, the -dat being the verb ta on analogy with other forms indás, oldáte. The original is al, propter, "further" (see "thall"), like Latin tum ("tum ille" - then he), later or or for, and later still ar - all prepositions, denoting "further".