Nouns

Types

There are three types of nouns: Indefinite, Definite, and Proper.

An Indefinite Noun is an example of a category; it is not uniquely distinguished from other nouns with the same traits. It can be qualified by any adjective except a possessive adjective and even by prepositional phrases (e.g. rón mór liath ‘a big gray seal’, dobharchúnna fiáine in aibhneacha iargúlta ‘wild otters in remote rivers’). Note that in English, a singular Indefinite Noun is preceded by the Indefinite Article ‘a’ or ‘an’ (e.g. ‘a big gray seal’) while a plural Indefinite Noun is preceded by nothing (e.g. ‘wild otters’). Since Irish has no Indefinite Article, Indefinite Nouns in Irish are preceded by nothing (e.g. rón mór liath, dobharchúnna fiáine).

A Definite Noun is individualized; it is uniquely distinguished from all other nouns, including those that have the same traits. Like an Indefinite Noun, it can be qualified by any adjective or phrase, but a Definite Noun is set apart by the Definite Article (e.g. an rón mór liath ‘the big gray seal’, na dobharchúnna fiáine in aibhneacha iargúlta ‘the wild otters in remote rivers’), the Definite Article and a demonstrative pronoun (e.g. an rón mór liath seo ‘this big gray seal’, na dobharchúnna fiáine sin ‘those wild otters’), or a possessive adjective, which may be supplemented by féin ‘own’ or an emphatic suffix (e.g. mo rón mór liath féin ‘my own big gray seal’, do dhobharchúnna fiáinese ‘your wild otters’).

A Proper Noun is a capitalized name denoting a person, an animal, a location, or an object. This vast category includes first names and surnames (e.g. Síle ‘Sheila’, Mac Mathúna ‘McMahon’), nicknames and titles (e.g. Cailleach Bhéarra ‘Old Woman of Beare’), street names (e.g. Sráid Uí Chonaill ‘O’Connell Street’), countries and cities (e.g. Éire ‘Ireland’, Corcaigh ‘Cork’), landmarks (e.g. Brú na Bóinne ‘Newgrange’), names of stories and publications (e.g. Táin Bó Cuailnge ‘Cattle-Raid of Cooley’, Iris Nua Éireannach ‘New Hibernia Review’).

 

Nouns: Gender, Number, Case

The key characteristics of a noun are Gender, Number, and Case.

Gender indicates whether a noun is feminine or masculine.

Number indicates whether a noun is singular or plural.

Case indicates the grammatical role of a noun. There are five cases in Irish:

Noun Case	Grammatical Role of a Noun in That Case
Nominative/Subjective	subject – performer of the action
Accusative/Objective	direct object – recipient of the action
Dative	indirect object – beneficiary of the action
Genitive	describes a preceding noun or completes the meaning of a preceding phrase (see Nouns: The Genitive Case)
Vocative	addressee – the person or thing being spoken to

EXAMPLES OF NOUNS IN THE NOMINATIVE CASE:

Nuair a bhíonn an cat as baile, bíonn an luch ag rince.

‘When the cat is away, the mouse is dancing.’

Is gaire cabhair Dé ná an doras.

‘God’s help is nearer than the door.’

EXAMPLES OF NOUNS IN THE ACCUSATIVE CASE:

Má bhuaileann tú mo mhadra, buailfidh tú mé.

‘If you hit my dog, you will hit me.’

Ná gearradh do theanga do scornach.

‘Let not your tongue cut your throat’.

EXAMPLES OF NOUNS IN THE GENITIVE CASE:

Is maith an scáthán súil charad.

‘A friend’s eye is a good mirror.’

Ith smior mairt is bí tapaidh,

Ith smior muice is bí mór meata.

‘Eat beef marrow and be nimble,

Eat pork marrow and be feeble.’

Tús maith leath na hoibre.

‘A good start is half the work.’

EXAMPLES OF NOUNS IN THE DATIVE CASE:

Níl aon leigheas ar an ngrá ach pósadh.

‘There’s no cure for love except marriage.’

Mura gcuirfidh tú san earrach ní bhainfidh tú san fhómhar.

‘If you do not sow in the spring, you will not reap in the autumn.’

EXAMPLES OF NOUNS IN THE VOCATIVE CASE:

‘Siúil díreach, a mhic’ – mar a dúirt an seanphortán leis an bportán óg.

‘Walk straight, son’ – as the old crab said to the young crab.

Mair, a chapaill, agus gheobhaidh tú féar.

‘Live, horse, and you will get grass.’

All of the preceding examples are proverbs. Nuair a bhíonn an cat as baile, bíonn an luch ag rince also appears as nuair a bhíonns an cat as baile, bíonn an luch ag damhsa, Munster Irish preferring rince and Donegal Irish damhsa for the verbal noun ‘dancing’; as baile ‘away [from home]’ may also be replaced by amuigh ‘outside’. The American and Hiberno-English equivalent is ‘While the cat’s away, the mice will play.’ Má bhuaileann tú mo mhadra buailfidh tú mé is similar to ‘Love me, love my dog.’ Ná gearradh do theanga do scornach warns a person against talking too freely because his own words can get him into trouble.

Caution: Irish and English are such different languages that a sentence in Irish and its translation in English rarely contain the same nouns in the same cases, the same verbs, or the same anything else. Often the Irish contains elements that do not appear in the translation while the translation contains elements that do not appear in the Irish. Here are two examples:

Tá	leabhar	agam.
verb	subject (Nominative Case)	prepositional pronoun
‘I	have	a	book.’
subject (Nominative Case)	verb	indefinite article	object (Accusative Case)
an	leabhar	atá	agam
definite article	subject (Nominative Case)	direct relative particle a	prepositional pronoun plus verb tá
‘the	book	that	I	have’
definite article	object (Accusative Case)	relative pronoun	subject (Nominative Case)	verb

Nouns: Uses of the Genitive Case

In Irish the Genitive Case is used to express any relationship between two consecutive nouns that are not linked by a verb.³² The first noun may be in any case, depending on its grammatical role in the question, answer, or statement. The second noun must be in the Genitive Case in order to establish its relationship with the first noun. The first noun is said to ‘govern’ the second noun in the Genitive Case.

Just as it is sometimes possible to avoid the Copula (see Irregular Verbs: Substantive vs. Copula), it is sometimes possible to avoid the Genitive Case.³³ But like the Copula, the Genitive Case is required in so many situations – after nouns, Verbal Nouns, Compound Prepositions, and certain Simple Prepositions – that trying to speak or write Irish without using nouns in the Genitive Case is more futile than trying to make a cambric shirt without seams or needlework. The Genitive Case is so central to the language that a noun’s declension is determined by its genitive singular, regardless of its forms in the nominative, accusative, dative, and vocative.

The following list describes categories of information that a noun in the Genitive Case can provide about the noun it follows. Unless the first noun is prepositional, it is always correct to place ‘of’ in front of the second word as a literal translation until you are certain of the idiomatic translation.

For an explanation of mutations in the following examples, see Nouns: Mutations.

1) origin:

torthaí crainn síol blátha iníon Bharra

[fruits of a tree] [seed of a flower] [daughter of Barra]

‘a tree’s fruits’ ‘a flower seed’ ‘Barra’s daughter’

2) ownership:

bialann Shiobhán éadaí na bpáistí cait ár gcomharsan

[restaurant of Siobhán] [clothes of the children] [cats of our neighbor]

‘Siobhán’s restaurant’ ‘the children’s clothes’ ‘our neighbor’s cats’

3) composition:

peann luaidhe croí gloine cosa créafóige

[pen of lead] [heart of glass] [feet of clay]

‘a pencil’ ‘a glass heart’ ‘clay feet’

4) contents:

bosca gainimh buidéal bainne

[box of sand] [bottle of milk]

‘a sandbox’ ‘a milk bottle’34

5) kind:

lá samhraidh Oíche Shamhna maidin sheaca máthair shúigh

[day of summer] [night of Halloween] [morning of frost] [mother of suction]

‘a summer’s day’ ‘Halloween night’ ‘a frosty morning’ ‘a squid’

6) magnitude:

pá lae garsún bliana práta puint

[pay of a day] [boy of a year] [potato of one pound]

‘a day’s pay’ ‘a year-old boy’ ‘a one-pound potato’

7) value:

ticéad puint stampa pingine

[ticket of one pound] [a stamp of one cent]

‘a one-pound ticket’ ‘a one-cent stamp’

8) use:

seomra codlata teach ósta

[room of sleeping] [house of lodging]

‘bedroom’ ‘an inn’

9) occupation:

bean an tí mac léinn cailín aimsire

[woman of the house] [lit. son of study] [girl of service]

‘housewife’ ‘student’ ‘maid’

10) position:

cos deiridh gluaisteán tosaigh

[a leg of an end] [a car of a beginning]

‘a hind leg’ ‘a car in front’

11) part of a larger whole:

mo chuid éadaí roinnt aráin

[my share of clothes] [a share of bread]

‘my clothes’ ‘some bread’

12) proper name:

Sráid Uí Néill Coláiste Bhríde

[Street of O’Neill] [College of St. Bridget]

‘O’Neill Street’ ‘St. Bridget’s College’

13) object of a Verbal Noun:

ag ithe seacláide ag léamh an leabhair

[at eating of chocolate] [at reading of the book]

‘eating chocolate’ ‘reading the book’

14) object of a Compound Preposition:

ar chúl an tí ‘behind the house’

de réir dlí ‘according to law’

Oisín i ndiaidh na Féinne ‘Oisín after the Fianna’

ar fud na hÉireann ‘throughout Ireland’

15) object of chun ‘to, toward’, trasna ‘across’, timpeall ‘around’, fearacht ‘like’, cois ‘beside’, or dála ‘as, concerning’:

ag dul chun na farraige ‘going toward the sea’

trasna an bhóthair ‘across the road’

timpeall an chnoic ‘around the hill’

fearacht a máthar ‘like her mother’

cois na habhann ‘beside the river’

dála an scéil ‘according to the story’

Nouns: Plurals

Irish has two types of plurals: Strong and Weak. The formation of the plural depends on 1) whether the plural is Strong or Weak, and 2) the declension to which the noun belongs, because noun declensions form plurals in different ways (for the details of 2, see Strong Plurals~Weak Plurals in Noun Declensions).

A Strong Plural is the same in all grammatical cases.

Example of a Strong Plural:

Bhí na soilse rógheal dá shúile ‘The lights were too bright for his eyes.’	Nominative Plural
An bhfaca sibh na soilse sin? ‘Did you see those lights?’	Accusative Plural
Tá loinnir na soilse rógheal. ‘The glare of the lights is too bright.’	Genitive Plural
Cé mhéad airgid a thug tú ar na soilse? ‘How much money did you pay for the lights?’	Dative Plural
A shoilse, go dtaitní sibh go deo! ‘Lights, may you shine forever!’	Vocative Plural

A Weak Plural has at least two different forms, one for the N/A plural, dative plural, and sometimes the vocative plural, and one for the genitive plural only.

Example of a Weak Plural:

Léimfidh caoirigh an fál. ‘Sheep will jump the fence.’	Nominative Plural
An bhfaca sibh na caoirigh sin? ‘Did you see those sheep?’	Accusative Plural
Tá olann na gcaorach an-bhán. ‘The wool of the sheep is very white.’	Genitive Plural
Cé mhéad airgid a thug tú ar na caoirigh? ‘How much money did you pay for the sheep?’	Dative Plural
A chaoirigh, go dtaga sibh slán abhaile! ‘Sheep, may you come safely home!’	Vocative Plural

P.S. If you think Irish plurals are arbitrary and difficult to learn, consider the plurals of English words such as ‘mouse’, ‘fish’, ‘leaf’, ‘tooth’, ‘potato’, ‘body’, and ‘ox’, then repent at leisure.

 

Nouns: Declensions

To Decline a Noun is to change the form of the noun to reflect its number and case.

EXAMPLES OF DECLINED NOUNS:

Ní fhásann fíonchaora ar chrainn. ‘Grapes don’t grow on trees.’	fíonchaora = nom. pl. of fíonchaor ‘grape’ crainn = dat. pl. of crann ‘tree’
Cén saghas éin é sin? ‘What type of bird is that?’	saghas = nom. sg. of saghas ‘type’ éin = gen. sg. of éan ‘bird’
Éirigh as an ngearán, a mhic! ‘Stop complaining, son!’	gearán = dat. sg. of gearán ‘complaining’ a mhic = voc. sg. of mac ‘son’
Doirteadh deochanna i gcomhair na gcuairteoirí. ‘Drinks were poured for the visitors.’	deochanna = acc. pl. of deoch ‘drink’ cuairteoirí = gen. pl. of cuairteoir ‘guest’
A dhaoine uaisle, an dtabharfaidh sibh bhur gcótaí dom? ‘Gentlemen, will you give me your coats?’	a dhaoine uaisle = voc. pl. of duine uasal ‘gentleman’ cótaí = acc. pl. of cóta ‘coat’

A Noun Declension is a group of nouns that are declined according to the same pattern. Since most nouns have one form for the nominative, accusative, and dative in the singular, and likewise one form for the nominative, accusative, and dative in the plural, declensions are distinguished primarily by the formation of the genitive singular. Other defining features include gender, formation of the vocative, and formation of plurals.

Regular Nouns are nouns that belong to a Noun Declension. Nouns that do not belong to a Noun Declension are discussed in Nouns: Irregular.

IN THE FOLLOWING CHARTS OF NOUN DECLENSIONS:

1) Because all nouns have the same form in the Nominative and Accusative Singular, and the same form in the Nominative and Accusative Plural, each of these is given only once as the N/A Singular or N/A Plural. Forms for the Genitive, and Vocative Singular and Plural vary enough to be listed separately. Some Dative usages are also given.

2) Each Noun Declension is described in terms of its Characteristics, Formation of the Genitive Singular, and Formation of Plurals.

Nouns: First Declension

Characteristics

Masculine

N/A Singular has a broad final consonant

Genitive Singular has a slender final consonant

Vocative Plural has final ‘a’

Genitive Singular and Vocative Singular are the same

Formation of the Genitive Singular

1) Insert ‘i’ before final consonant/s:

corn ‘a horn’ coirn ‘of a horn’

ball ‘organ [of the body]’ baill ‘of an organ’

2) Change the internal vowels:

ea i	fear ‘a man’ fir ‘of a man’
éa éi	éan ‘a bird’ éin ‘of a bird’
ia éi	iasc ‘a fish’ éisc ‘of a fish’
ío í	coinníoll ‘a condition’ coinníll ‘of a condition’

3) Change the final -ach/-each of polysyllabics to -aigh/-igh:

-ach -aigh	bacach ‘a beggar’ bacaigh ‘of a beggar’
-each -igh	cuilceach ‘a [male] rascal’ cuilcigh ‘of a rascal’

Weak Plurals

N/A Singular and Genitive Plural are the same.

Genitive Singular and N/A Plural may be the same.

When the noun is preceded by the definite article, observe whether the definite article is singular or plural, and whether it causes lenition (genitive singular), eclipsis (genitive plural), or has no effect (N/A singular or plural.).

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	N/A Pl.	Gen. Pl.
bád ‘a boat’ an bád ‘the boat’	báid ‘of a boat’ an bháid ‘of the boat’	báid ‘boats’ na báid ‘the boats’	bád ‘of boats’ na mbád ‘of the boats’
úll ‘an apple’ an t-úll ‘the apple’	úill ‘of an apple’ an úill ‘of the apple’	úlla ‘apples’ na húlla ‘the apples’	úll ‘of apples’ na n-úll ‘of the apples

Strong Plurals

When the noun is preceded by the definite article, observe whether the definite article eclipses (genitive plural) or has no effect (N/A plural).

STRONG PLURALS ARE FORMED BY:

a) Adding -anna to monosyllabic nouns:

blas ‘taste’ blasanna ‘tastes’ or ‘of tastes’

taobh ‘side’ taobhanna ‘sides’ or ‘of sides’

b) Adding -tha to monosyllables with final ‘r’:

glór ‘voice’ glórtha ‘voices’ or ‘of voices’

tuar ‘omen’ tuartha ‘omens’ or ‘of omens’

c) Adding -ta to monosyllabics with a long vowel or a diphthong, and final ‘l’ or ‘n’:

néal ‘cloud’ néalta ‘clouds’ or ‘of clouds’

braon ‘drop’ braonta ‘drops’ or ‘of drops’

d) Adding -te to a monosyllabic or to a polysyllabic that has lost its final syllable:

smaoineamh ‘a thought’ smaointe ‘thoughts’ or ‘of thoughts’

e) Changing the final -adh/-eadh or -ach/-each of polysyllabics to -aí/-í:

samhradh ‘summer’ samhraí ‘summers’ or ‘of summers’

deireadh ‘end’ deirí ‘ends’ or ‘of ends’

orlach ‘inch’ orlaí ‘inches’ or ‘of inches’

soitheach ‘a vessel’ soithí ‘vessels’ or ‘of vessels’

f) Performing syncope on polysyllabics, slenderizing the final consonant, then adding -e:

doras ‘a door’ doirse ‘doors’ or ‘of doors’

éigeas ‘scholar’ éigse ‘scholars’ or ‘of scholars’

For an explanation of lenition and eclipsis in the following charts, see Nouns: Mutations.

For the use of the Definite Article in the following charts, see Nouns: The Definite Article.

EXAMPLE OF NOUN WITH INITIAL CONSONANT:

bord ‘table’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	bord	boird	an bord	na boird
G	boird	bord	an bhoird	na mbord
D	ar bhord	ar bhoird	ar an mbord	ar na boird

EXAMPLE OF NOUN WITH INITIAL VOWEL:

iasc ‘fish’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	iasc	éisc	an t-iasc	na héisc
G	éisc	iasc	an éisc	na n-iasc
D	ar iasc	ar éisc	ar an iasc	ar na héisc
V	a éisc	a iasca

EXAMPLE OF NOUN WITH FINAL -ACH:

corrach ‘marsh’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	corrach	corraigh	an corrach	na corraigh
G	corraigh	corrach	an chorraigh	na gcorrach
D	ar chorrach	ar chorraigh	ar an gcorrach	ar na corraigh

EXAMPLE OF NOUN WITH N/A PLURAL IN ‘A’:

cuas ‘a hollow’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	cuas	cuasa	an cuas	na cuasa
G	cuais	cuas	an chuais	na gcuas
D	ó chuas	ó chuasa	ón gcuas	ó na cuasa

EXAMPLE OF NOUN WITH INITIAL ‘S’:

saothar ‘labor’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	saothar	saothair	an saothar	na saothair
G	saothair	saothar	an tsaothair	na saothar
D	ar shaothar	ar shaothair	ar an saothar	ar na saothair

COMMON FIRST-DECLENSION NOUNS WITH WEAK PLURALS:

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	N/A Pl.	Gn. Pl.
páipéar ‘paper’	páipéir	páipéir	páipéar
peann ‘pen’	pinn	pinn	peann
focal ‘word’	focail	focail	focal
cleas ‘trick’	clis	cleasa	cleas

COMMON FIRST-DECLENSION NOUNS WITH STRONG PLURALS:

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	Plural
tobar ‘a well’	tobair	toibreacha
toradh ‘fruit’	toraidh	torthaí
aonach ‘fair’	aonaigh	aontaí
smaoineamh ‘thought’	smaoinimh	smaointe
ollamh ‘professor’	ollaimh	ollúna
talamh ‘land’35	talaimh	tailte

Nouns: Second Declension

Characteristics

Feminine (except im and sliabh)

N/A Singular has a broad or slender final consonant

Genitive Singular has final ‘e’

Vocative Plural has final ‘a’ or ‘e’

Vocative Singular and Plural and N/A Singular and Plural are the same

FORMATION OF THE GENITIVE SINGULAR

1) If the final consonant is slender, add ‘e’:

scoil ‘a school’ scoile ‘of a school’

pingin ‘a penny’ pingine ‘of a penny’

2) If the final consonant is broad, insert ‘i’ then add ‘e’:

bróg ‘a shoe’ bróige ‘of a shoe’

fuinneog ‘window’ fuinneoige ‘of a window’

3) Change the internal vowel/s, then add ‘e’:

ia éi	pian ‘pain’ péine ‘of pain’
éa éi	pléasc ‘explosion’ pléisce ‘of an explosion’
ea ei	fead ‘whistle’ feide ‘of a whistle’ (in monosyllabics)
ea i	doineann ‘storm’ doininne ‘of a storm’ (in polysyllabics)
io i	sprioc ‘target’ sprice ‘of a target’
ío í	críoch ‘a limit’ críche ‘of a limit’

4) Change the final -ach/-each of polysyllabics to -aí/-í:

-ach -aí	scornach ‘throat’ scornaí ‘of a throat’
-each -í	cailleach ‘hag’ caillí ‘of a hag’

Weak Plurals

N/A Plural is formed by adding ‘a’.

Genitive Plural and N/A Singular are the same.

When the noun is preceded by the definite article, observe whether the definite article is singular or plural, and whether it causes lenition (N/A singular), eclipsis (genitive plural), or has no effect (genitive singular or N/A plural).

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	N/A Pl.	Gen. Pl.
cláirseach ‘harp’	cláirsí ‘of a harp’	cláirseacha ‘harps’	cláirseach ‘of harps’
an chláirseach ‘the harp’	na cláirsí ‘of the harp’	na cláirseacha ‘the harps’	na gcláirseach ‘of the harps’

Second-Declension Nouns that end in -ach, -each, -óg, -eog, -lann, and some other consonants form the N/A plural by adding final ‘a’:

N/A Sg.	N/A Pl.
leabharlann ‘library’	leabharlanna ‘libraries’
tinteog ‘stove’	tinteoga ‘stoves’
long ‘ship’	longa ‘ships’
adharc ‘horn’	adharca ‘horns’
dealbh ‘statue’	dealbha ‘statues’
tuath ‘people’	tuatha ‘peoples’
dealg ‘thorn’	dealga ‘thorns’
cnámh ‘bone’	cnámha ‘bones’

Strong Plurals

When the noun is preceded by the definite article, observe whether the definite article eclipses (genitive plural) or has no effect (genitive singular or N/A plural). Remember that the genitive singular of a feminine noun takes na (e.g. glór na toinne ‘sound of the wave’; glór na dtonnta ‘sound of the waves’).

STRONG PLURALS ARE FORMED BY ADDING:

-eanna	aghaidh ‘face’	aghaidheanna ‘faces’ or ‘of faces’
-í	brionglóid ‘dream’	brionglóidí ‘dreams’ or ‘of dreams’
-eacha	gairm ‘call [of animal]’	gairmeacha ‘call’ or ‘of calls’
-acha	iníon ‘daughter’	iníonacha ‘daughters’ or ‘of daughters’
-ta	tonn ‘wave’	tonnta ‘waves’ or ‘of waves’
-te	coill ‘forest’	coillte ‘forests’ or ‘of forests’
-tha	gáire ‘a shout’	gártha36 ‘shouts’ or ‘of shouts’
-a	cill ‘church’	cealla37 ‘churches’ or ‘of churches’

Formation of the Dative Singular

Second-Declension Nouns retain a distinctive dative singular, formed by removing the final ‘e’ from the genitive singular. In the Caighdeán the dative singular is the same as the nominative singular. But the distinctive dative singular is still common in Munster Irish and in petrified forms, and you must be able to recognize it in order to backform to the nominative singular. This form is shown in the following example.

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	Dat. Sg. (caighdeán)	Dat.Sg. (Munster)
fuinneog ‘window’	barr fuinneoige ‘top of a window’	ar fhuinneog ‘on a window’	ar fhuinneoig ‘on a window’
an fhuinneog ‘the window’	barr na fuinneoige ‘top of the window’	ar an bhfuinneog ‘on the window’	ar an bhfuinneoig ‘on the window’

For an explanation of lenition and eclipsis in the following charts, see Nouns: Mutations.

For the use of the Definite Article in the following charts, see Nouns: The Definite Article.

EXAMPLE WITH SLENDER FINAL CONSONANT:

páirc ‘field’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	páirc	páirceanna	an pháirc	na páirceanna
G	páirce	páirceanna	na páirce	na bpáirceanna
D	ar pháirc	ar pháirceanna	ar an bpáirc	ar na páirceanna
V	a pháirc	a pháirceanna

EXAMPLE WITH FINAL -ÓG:

bumbóg ‘bumblebee’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	bumbóg	bumbóga	an bhumbóg	na bumbóga
G	bumbóige	bumbóg	na bumbóige	na mbumbóg
D	ar bhumbóg	ar bhumbóga	ar an mbumbóg	ar na bumbóga
V	a bhumbóg	a bhumbóga

EXAMPLE WITH INITIAL VOWEL:

ubh ‘egg’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	ubh	uibheacha	an ubh	na huibheacha
G	uibhe	uibheacha	na huibhe	na n-uibheacha
D	ar ubh	ar uibheacha	ar an ubh	ar na huibheacha

EXAMPLE WITH INITIAL ‘S’:

srón ‘nose’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	srón	sróna	an tsrón	na sróna
G	sróine	srón	na sróine	na srón
D	ar shrón	ar shróna	ar an tsrón	ar na sróna

Two Masculine Second-Declension Nouns

Im and sliabh are masculine, but since they form the genitive singular by adding final ‘e’, they belong in the Second Declension. To assert their masculinity, they act like First-Declension Nouns when they are preceded by the definite article.

im ‘butter’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	im		an t-im
G	ime		an ime
D	im		ar an im

sliabh ‘mountain’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	sliabh	sléibhte	an sliabh	na sléibhte
G	sléibhe	sléibhte	an tsléibhe	na sléibhte
D	ar shliabh	ar shléibhte	ar an sliabh	ar na sléibhte
V	a shliabh	a shléibhte

COMMON SECOND-DECLENSION NOUNS WITH IRREGULAR GENITIVE PLURALS:

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	N/A Pl.	Gen. Pl.
binn ‘peak, tip’	binne ‘of a peak’	beanna ‘peaks’	beann ‘of peaks’
deoir ‘tear’	deoire ‘of a tear’	deora ‘tears’	deor ‘of tears’
súil ‘eye’	súile ‘of an eye’	súile ‘eyes’	súl ‘of eyes’
glúin ‘knee’	glúine ‘of a knee’	glúine ‘knees’	glún ‘of knees’

COMMON SECOND-DECLENSION NOUNS WITH IRREGULAR STRONG PLURALS:

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	Plural
tír ‘country’	tíre ‘of a country’	tíortha ‘countries’ or ‘of countries’
fiacail ‘tooth’	fiacaile ‘of a tooth’	fiacla ‘teeth’ or ‘of teeth’
scian ‘knife’	scine ‘of a knife’	sceana ‘knives’ or ‘of knives’
deoch ‘a drink’	dí ‘of a drink’	deochanna ‘drinks’ or ‘of drinks’
culaith ‘suit [of clothes]’	culaithe ‘of a suit’	cultacha ‘suits’ or ‘of suits’
obair ‘work’	oibre ‘of work’	oibreacha ‘works’ or ‘of works’
paidir ‘a prayer’	paidre ‘of a prayer’	paidreacha ‘prayers’ or ‘of prayers’

Nouns: Third Declension

Characteristics

Masculine or Feminine

N/A Singular has a broad or slender final consonant

Genitive Singular has final ‘a’

Vocative Singular and Nominative Singular are the same

FORMATION OF THE GENITIVE SINGULAR

1) If the final consonant is broad, add -a:

am ‘time’ ama ‘of time’

mallacht ‘curse’ mallachta ‘of a curse’

2) Change the internal vowel/s of monosyllabics, then add -a:

ei ea	greim ‘a grip’ greama ‘of a grip’
io ea	lios ‘fort’ leasa ‘of a fort’
i ea	mil ‘honey’ meala ‘of honey’
ai a	flaith ‘prince’ flatha ‘of a prince’
oi o	troid ‘a fight’ troda ‘of a fight’
ui o	cuid ‘a share’ coda ‘of a share’

3) Perform syncope on polysyllabics with a slender final vowel, then add -a:

feadhain ‘group [of people]’ feadhna ‘of a group’

diachair ‘distress’ diachra ‘of distress’

4) If the final vowel is slender but syncope is not an option (because the word is monosyllabic, or polysyllabic with a long vowel in the final syllable), broaden and then add -a:

feoil ‘meat’ feola ‘of meat’

bádóir ‘boatman’ bádóra ‘of a boatman’

tincéir ‘tinker’ tincéara ‘of a tinker’

barúil ‘opinion’ barúla ‘of an opinion’

5) If the noun is feminine with final -áint, -úint, or -irt, change the -int to -n-or the -irt to -rth-and then add -a:

tiomáint ‘driving’ tiomána ‘of driving’

canúint ‘dialect’ canúna ‘of a dialect’

bagairt ‘threat’ bagartha ‘of a threat’

Weak Plurals

N/A Singular and Genitive Plural are the same.

Genitive Singular and N/A Plural are the same.

When the noun is preceded by the definite article, observe whether the definite article is singular or plural, and whether it causes lenition (masculine genitive singular or feminine nominative singular), eclipsis (masculine or feminine genitive plural), or has no effect (every other case and number for either gender).

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	N/A Pl.	Gen. Pl.
treas ‘battle’	treasa ‘of a battle’	treasa ‘battles’	treas ‘of battles’
an treas ‘the battle’	an treasa ‘of the battle’	na treasa ‘the battles’	na dtreas ‘of the battles’

Strong Plurals

Nearly all Third-Declension Nouns have Strong Plurals of one of the following types:

1) Monosyllabics with broad final consonants add -anna or -aí:

bláth ‘flower’ bláthanna ‘flowers’ or ‘of flowers’

loch ‘lake’ lochanna ‘lakes’ or ‘of lakes’

rás ‘race’ rásaí ‘races’ or ‘of races’

rud ‘thing’ rudaí ‘things’ or ‘of things’

2) Monosyllabics with slender final consonants add -nna to their genitive singular:

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	Plural
droim ‘back’	droma ‘of a back’	dromanna ‘backs’ or ‘of backs’
cith ‘shower’	ceatha ‘of a shower’	ceathanna ‘showers’ or ‘of showers’

3) For some monosyllabics and polysyllabics the plural is the same as the genitive singular, so if the final consonant is slender, perform vowel-change, syncope, or broadening, then add -a:

cosaint ‘defense’ cosanta ‘defenses’ or ‘of defenses’

gamhain ‘calf’ gamhna ‘calves’ or ‘of calves’

4) Agentives³⁸ that end in -aeir, -éir, -eoir, -óir, or -úir are masculine and add -í:

grósaeir ‘grocer’ grósaeirí ‘grocers’ or ‘of grocers’

báicéir ‘baker’ báicéirí ‘bakers’ or ‘of bakers’

feirmeoir ‘farmer’ feirmeoirí ‘farmers’ or ‘of farmers’

clódóir ‘printer’ clódóirí ‘printers’ or ‘of printers’

saighdiúir ‘soldier’ saighdiúirí ‘soldiers’ or ‘of soldiers’

5) Feminine nouns with final -áint, -úint, or -irt add -í:

taispeáint ‘display’ taispeáintí ‘displays’ or ‘of displays’

cinniúint ‘fate’ cinniúintí ‘fates’ or ‘of fates’

íobairt ‘sacrifice’ íobairtí ‘sacrifices’ or ‘of sacrifices’

6) Polysyllabics with final -acht or -íocht³⁹ are feminine and add -aí:

gluaiseacht ‘movement’ gluaiseachtaí ‘movements’ or ‘of movements’

litríocht ‘literature’ litríochtaí ‘literatures’ or ‘of literatures’

scoláireacht ‘scholarship’ scoláireachtaí ‘scholarships’ or ‘of scholarships’

7) Polysyllabics with final -áil, -úil, or -íl add -cha to their genitive singular:

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	Plural
comhdháil	comhdhála	comhdhálacha
‘a meeting’	‘of a meeting’	‘meetings’ or ‘of meetings’
feadaíl	feadaíola40	feadaíolacha
‘whistling’	‘of whistling’	‘whistlings’ or ‘of whistlings’

For an explanation of lenition and eclipsis in the following charts, see Nouns: Mutations.

For the use of the Definite Article in the following charts, see Nouns: The Definite Article.

EXAMPLE OF AGENTIVE:

búistéir ‘butcher’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	búistéir	búistéirí	an búistéir	na búistéirí
G	búistéara	búistéirí	an bhúistéara	na mbúistéirí
D	do bhúistéir	do bhúistéirí	don bhúistéir	do na búistéirí
V	a bhúistéir	a bhúistéirí

EXAMPLE WITH FINAL -ÚIL:

barúil ‘opinion’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	barúil	barúlacha	an bharúil	na barúlacha
G	barúla	barúlacha	na barúla	na mbarúlacha
D	de bharúil	de bharúlacha	den bharúil	de na barúlacha

EXAMPLE WITH FINAL -ACHT:

cumhacht ‘power’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	cumhacht	cumhachtaí	an chumhacht	na cumhachtaí
G	cumhachta	cumhachtaí	na cumhachta	na gcumhachtaí
D	ar chumhacht	ar chumhachtaí	ar an gcumhacht	ar na cumhachtaí

EXAMPLE WITH INTERNAL-VOWEL CHANGE:

crith ‘shiver’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	crith	creathanna	an crith	na creathanna
G	creatha	creathanna	an chreatha	na gcreathanna
D	de chrith	de chreathanna	den chrith	de na creathanna

EXAMPLE WITH INITIAL VOWEL:

onóir ‘honor’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	onóir	onóracha	an onóir	na honóracha
G	onóra	onóracha	na honóra	na n-onóracha
D	le honóir	le honóracha	leis an onóir	leis na honóracha
V	a onóir	a onóracha

EXAMPLE WITH INITIAL ‘S’:

seal ‘while’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	seal	sealanna	an seal	na sealanna
G	seala	sealanna	an tseala	na sealanna
D	de sheal	de shealanna	den seal	de na sealanna

Common Third-Declension Nouns with Irregular Strong Plurals:

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	Plural
gleann ‘valley’	gleanna	gleannta
feoil ‘meat’	feola	feolta
móin ‘turf’	móna	móinte
cluain ‘deception’	cluana	cluainte
conradh ‘contract’	conartha	conarthaí

Nouns: Fourth Declension

Characteristics

Masculine or Feminine

includes all masculine nouns with final -ín in the N/A Singular

includes most nouns that have a final vowel in the N/A Singular

all Singular Cases are the same

FORMATION OF THE GENITIVE SINGULAR

Example of a Fourth-Declension Noun in All Singular Cases:

Ar aithris an file a dhán nua? ‘Did the poet recite his new poem?’	Nominative Case
Tabhair an file in éineacht libh. ‘Bring the poet along with you.’	Accusative Case
Inis dúinn ainm an fhile. ‘Tell us the poet’s name.’	Genitive Case
Nach gcuirfear muid in aithne don fhile? ‘Won’t we be introduced to the poet?’	Dative Case
A fhile, tá tú go hiontach! ‘Poet, you are wonderful!’	Vocative Case

Weak Plurals

N/A Singular and Genitive Plural are the same.

When the noun is preceded by the definite article, observe whether the definite article is singular or plural and whether it causes lenition (masculine genitive singular or feminine nominative singular), eclipsis (masculine or feminine genitive plural), or has no effect (every other case and number for either gender).

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	N/A Pl.	Gen. Pl.
bó ‘cow’	bó ‘of a cow’	ba ‘cows’	bó ‘of cows’
an bhó	na bó	na ba	na mbó
‘the cow’	‘of the cow’	‘the cows’	‘of the cows’

Strong Plurals

NEARLY ALL FOURTH-DECLENSION NOUNS HAVE STRONG PLURALS, FORMED IN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING WAYS:

1) Monosyllabics with a final broad vowel add -nna:

fleá ‘feast’ fleánna ‘feasts’ or ‘of feasts’

bia ‘food’ bianna ‘foods’ or ‘of foods’

rogha ‘choice’ roghanna ‘choices’ or ‘of choices’

2) Monosyllabics with a final broad consonant or a final slender vowel add -anna:

seans ‘chance’ seansanna ‘chances’ or ‘of chances’

ré ‘moon’ réanna ‘moons’ or ‘of moons’

3) Monosyllabics and polysyllabics with final -í, -aí, or -aoi add -the; those with final -é add -ithe:

croí ‘heart’ croíthe⁴¹ ‘hearts’ or ‘of hearts’

garraí ‘garden’ garraithe⁴² ‘gardens’ or ‘of gardens’

saoi ‘wise person’ saoithe ‘wise people’ or ‘of wise people’

bé ‘woman’ béithe ‘women’ or ‘of women’

4) Polysyllabics with final -a or final -ín add -í:

balla ‘wall’ ballaí ‘walls’ or ‘of walls’

cailín ‘girl’ cailíní ‘girls’ or ‘of girls’

5) Polysyllabics with final -le or -ne replace the final ‘e’ with -te:

tine ‘fire’ tinte ‘fires’ or ‘of fires’

féile ‘festival’ féilte ‘festivals’ or ‘of festivals’

6) Agentives⁴³ with final -ire, nouns with final -áiste, feminine abstract nouns with final -e,⁴⁴ and various other polysyllabics with final -e replace the final ‘e’ with -í:

cócaire ‘cook’ cócairí ‘cooks’ or ‘of cooks’

coláiste ‘college’ coláistí ‘colleges’ or ‘of colleges’

laige ‘weakness’ laigí ‘weaknesses’ or ‘of weaknesses’

béile ‘meal’ béilí ‘meals’ or ‘of meals’

For an explanation of lenition and eclipsis in the following charts, see Nouns: Mutations.

For the use of the Definite Article in the following charts, see Nouns: The Definite Article.

EXAMPLE WITH INITIAL VOWEL:

oráiste ‘orange’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	oráiste	oráistí	an t-oráiste	na horáistí
G	oráiste	oráistí	an oráiste	na n-oráistí
D	le horáiste	le horáistí	leis an oráiste	leis na horáistí
V	a oráiste	a oráistí

EXAMPLE WITH INITIAL ‘S’:

slí ‘way’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	slí	slite	an tslí	na slite
G	slí	slite	na slí	na slite
D	slí	slite	ar an tslí	ar na slite

COMMON FOURTH-DECLENSION NOUNS WITH IRREGULAR STRONG PLURALS:

Singular	Plural
ainm ‘name’ or ‘of a name’	ainmneacha ‘names’ or ‘of names’
teanga ‘tongue’ or ‘of a tongue’	teangacha ‘tongues’ or ‘of tongues’
duine ‘person’ or ‘of a person’	daoine ‘people’ or ‘of people’
tráthnóna ‘evening’ or ‘of an evening’	tráthnónta ‘evenings’ or ‘of evenings’
oíche ‘night’ or ‘of a night’	oícheanta ‘nights’ or ‘of nights’

Nouns: Fifth Declension

Characteristics

Feminine (except nouns denoting professions or their practitioners)

N/A Singular has a slender final consonant or final vowel

Genitive Singular has a broad final consonant

Vocative Singular and Nominative Singular are the same

FORMATION OF THE GENITIVE SINGULAR

1) Nouns with a final vowel add -d or -n:

cara ‘friend’ carad ‘of a friend’

ceathrú ‘quarter’ ceathrún ‘of a quarter’

2) Monosyllabics and polysyllabics with final -il, -in, or -ir add -each or -ach. Monosyllabics may lose the final ‘i’ before adding the genitive singular ending. Polysyllabics whose final syllable contains no long vowel undergo syncope before adding the genitive singular ending:

láir ‘mare’ lárach ‘of a mare’

riail ‘rule’ rialach ‘of a rule’

traein ‘train’ traenach ‘of a train’

coróin ‘crown’ corónach ‘of a crown’

litir ‘letter’ litreach ‘of a letter’

cathair ‘city’ cathrach ‘of a city’

3) Polysyllabics with a slender final consonant simply broaden the final consonant:

máthair ‘mother’ máthar ‘of a mother’

abhainn ‘river’ abhann ‘of a river’

Weak Plurals

GENITIVE SINGULAR AND GENITIVE PLURAL ARE THE SAME.

This is as weird as it gets: to form the N/A Plural, take the genitive singular and slenderize it as if it were the N/A singular of a First-Declension Noun. To distinguish the genitive singular from the genitive plural, remember that the genitive plural takes the definite article na^E.

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	N/A Pl.	Gen. Pl.
caora ‘sheep’	caorach ‘of a sheep’	caoirigh ‘sheep’	caorach ‘of sheep’
an chaora	na caorach	na caoirigh	na gcaorach
‘the sheep’	‘of the sheep’	‘the sheep’	‘of the sheep’
faocha	faochan	faochain	faochan
‘periwinkle’	‘of a periwinkle’	‘periwinkles’	‘of periwinkles’
an fhaocha	na faochan	na faochain	na bhfaochan
‘the periwinkle’	‘of the periwinkle’	‘the periwinkles’	‘of the periwinkles’

Strong Plurals

When the noun is preceded by the definite article, observe whether the definite article eclipses (genitive plural) or has no effect (every other plural case). It is best to memorize the forms of a Fifth-Declension Noun as soon as you meet one because some of the commonest are irregular. Many of their less cantankerous brethren form the plural in one of the following ways:

1) Feminine nouns with a final vowel, and some nouns with final -il, -in, or -ir (those with genitive singular in -ach) add -a to the genitive singular:

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	Plural
pearsa ‘person’	pearsan	pearsana
cabhail ‘body’	cabhlach	cabhlacha
traein ‘train’	traenach	traenacha
cathaoir ‘chair’	cathaoireach	cathaoireacha

2) Numbers slenderize the final consonant of the genitive singular (if necessary) and add -í:

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	Plural
fiche ‘twenty’	fichid	fichidí
tríocha ‘thirty’	tríochad	tríochaidí
ochtó ‘eighty’	ochtód	ochtóidí

For an explanation of lenition and eclipsis in the following charts, see Nouns: Mutations.

For the use of the Definite Article in the following charts, see Nouns: The Definite Article.

EXAMPLE WITH FINAL -IL:

cúil ‘corner’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	cúil	cúlacha	an chúil	na cúlacha
G	cúlach	cúlacha	na cúlach	na gcúlacha
D	cúil	cúlacha	sa chúil	sna cúlacha

EXAMPLE WITH FINAL -IR:

dair ‘oak’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	dair	daracha	an dair	na daracha
G	darach	daracha	na darach	na ndaracha
D	as dair	as daracha	as an darach	as na daracha
V	a dhair	a dharacha

EXAMPLE WITH INITIAL VOWEL:

eochair ‘key’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	eochair	eochracha	an eochair	na heochracha
G	eochrach	eochracha	na heochrach	na n-eochracha
D	le heochair	le heochracha	leis an eochair	leis na heochracha

EXAMPLE WITH INITIAL ‘S’:

sail ‘willow’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	sail	saileacha	an tsail	na saileacha
G	saileach	saileacha	na saileach	na saileacha
D	de shail	de shaileacha	den tsail	de na saileacha
V	a shail	a shaileacha

COMMON FIFTH-DECLENSION NOUNS:

N/A Sg.	Gen. Sg.	Plural
cara ‘friend’	carad	cairde
namhaid ‘enemy’	namhad	naimhde
abhainn ‘river’	abhann	aibhneacha
athair ‘father’	athar	aithreacha
máthair ‘mother’	máthar	máithreacha
deartháir ‘brother’	dearthár	deartháireacha
uimhir ‘number’	uimhreach	uimhreacha
Nollaig ‘Christmas’	Nollag	Nollaigí
Éire ‘Ireland’	Éireann45
Albain ‘Scotland’	Alban

Nouns: Irregular

An Irregular Noun does not decline according to any common pattern and so does not belong to any Noun Declension. Often one form of an Irregular Noun has an ending suggestive of a specific Noun Declension (e.g. a genitive singular with final -a, characteristic of the Third Declension, or a strong plural with final -acha, characteristic of the Second and Fifth Declensions), but this semblance of regularity is exploded by plural endings, vowel changes, and/or consonant changes typical of no Noun Declension.

Below are the commonest Irregular Nouns. Since a great many Verbal Nouns are Irregular Nouns, particularly those with final -adh or -eadh, -ú or -iú in the N/A singular, examples of these are included as well (see also Verbal Nouns: Features).

bean ‘woman’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	bean	mná	an bhean	na mná
G	mná	ban	na mná	na mban
D	ó bhean	ó mhná	ón mbean	ó na mná
V	a bhean	a mhná

deirfiúr⁴⁶ ‘sister’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	deirfiúr	deirfiúracha	an deirfiúr	na deirfiúracha
G	deirféar	deirfiúracha	na deirféar	na ndeirfiúracha
D	ó dheirfiúr	ó dheirfiúracha	ón deirfiúr	ó na deirfiúracha
V	a dheirfiúr	a dheirfiúracha

siúr ‘sister’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	siúr	siúracha	an tsiúr	na siúracha
G	siúrach	siúracha	na siúrach	na siúracha
D	ó shiúr	ó shiúracha	ón tsiúr	ó na siúracha
V	a shiúr	a shiúracha	—-	—-

lá ‘day’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	lá	laethanta	an lá	na laethanta
G	lae	laethanta	an lae	na laethanta
D	ar lá	ar laethanta	ar an lá	ar na laethanta

mí ‘month’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	mí	míonna	an mhí	na míonna
G	míosa	míonna	na míosa	na míonna
D	de mhí	de mhíonna	den mhí	de na míonna

talamh ‘land’ (when treated as a First Declension Noun)

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	talamh	tailte	an talamh	na tailte
G	talaimh	tailte	an talaimh	na dtailte
D	ar thalamh	ar thailte	ar an talamh	ar na tailte

talamh ‘land’ (when treated as a Fifth-Declension Noun)

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	talamh	tailte	an talamh	na tailte
G	talún	tailte	na talún	na dtailte
D	ar thalamh	ar thailte	ar an talamh	ar na tailte

dia ‘god’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	dia	déithe	an dia	na déithe
G	dé	déithe	an dé	na ndéithe
D	ó dhia	ó dhéithe	ón dia	ó na déithe
V	a dhia	a dhéithe

teach ‘house’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	teach	tithe	an teach	na tithe
G	tí	tithe	an tí	na dtithe
D	ar theach	ar thithe	ar an teach	ar na tithe

leaba ‘bed’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	leaba	leapacha	an leaba	na leapacha
G	leapa	leapacha	na leapa	na leapacha
D	i leaba	i leapacha	sa leaba	sna leapacha

olann ‘wool’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	olann	olanna	an olann	na holanna
G	olla	olann	na holla	na n-olann
D	le holann	le holanna	leis an olann	leis na holanna

moladh, Verbal Noun of mol ‘praise’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	moladh	moltaí	an moladh	na moltaí
G	molta	moltaí	an mholta	na moltaí
D	ó mholadh	ó mholtaí	ón moladh	ó na moltaí

cailleadh, Verbal Noun of caill ‘lose’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	cailleadh		an cailleadh
G	caillte		an chaillte
D	ó chailleadh		ón gcailleadh

dó, Verbal Noun of dóigh ‘burn’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	dó	dónna	an dó	na dónna
G	dóite	dónna	an dóite	na ndónna
D	de dhó	de dhónna	den dó	de na dónna

bailiú, Verbal Noun of bailigh ‘gather’

	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
N/A	bailiú		an bailiú
G	bailithe		an bhailithe
D	le bailiú		leis an mbailiú

Nouns: Mutations

Nouns undergo mutation more often than any other kind of word. To present a truly exhaustive list of these circumstances would require extensive annotation, and cause most learners to self-destruct in frustration. Apart from the tidal wave of information, some ‘rules’ have so many exceptions that they are worthier of the name ‘tendencies’. The list below lacks a very few ‘tendencies’ that I have judged potentially lethal to enthusiasm.⁴⁷ All of the commonest circumstances for lenition and eclipsis have been included.

The following rules apply to nouns of all declensions.

KEY TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

‘any noun’ = an indefinite noun of either gender or number, or a proper noun

‘a noun alone’ = a noun without any attributive adjectives or other qualifiers such as the definite article, e.g. freagra ‘answer’ is a noun alone, whereas an freagra ‘the answer’, freagra ceart ‘a correct answer’ or freagra ar bith ‘any answer’ are not.

E1 = Exception 1: This rule does not apply to nouns with initial ‘d’, ‘t’, or ‘s’.

E1a = Exception 1a: This rule does not apply to nouns with initial ‘d’, ‘t’, ‘s’, or ‘f’.

E2 = Exception 2: This rule does not apply when the first word has final ‘d’, ‘n’, ‘t’, ‘l’, or ‘s’ and the second word has initial ‘d’, ‘t’, or ‘s’.

E3 = Exception 3: A singular noun with initial ‘s’ acquires a prefix ‘t’ instead of being lenited.

All other exceptions are given in footnotes.

Lenition

1) Any noun after the vocative particle a:

A Dháibhí, cén chaoi a bhfuil tú?

‘Dáibhí, how are you?’

A bhuachaillí, cá bhfuil bhur n-athair?

‘Boys, where is your father?’

2) Any noun that is the second element in a compound word (E2):

dea-mhéin ‘goodwill’

míchomhairle ‘bad advice’

drochbhéal ‘foul language’

seanduine ‘old person’(E2)

3) A definite singular feminine noun in any case except the genitive (E1, E3):

Cén tsiocair a bhí lena bhás? (E3) ‘What was the reason for his death?’	Nominative Case
An dtuigeann siad an deacracht? (E1) ‘Do they understand the difficulty?’	Accusative Case
Bhuail Roibeard isteach sa chistin. ‘Roibeard went into the kitchen.’	Dative Case
A Cháit, ná himigh! ‘Cáit, don’t go!’	Vocative Case

4) A definite singular masculine noun in the genitive case (E1, E3):

deireadh an bhóthair ‘the end of the road’

cosa an chú ‘the hound’s legs’

ainm an duine seo ‘this person’s name’ (E1)

barr an tsléibhe ‘the top of the mountain’(E3)

5) Any definite or proper noun in the genitive case that is neither the subject nor the object of a following verbal noun (see The Verbal Noun: Functions):

iníon Bharra ‘Barra’s daughter’

Oíche Shamhna ‘Halloween night’

coireanna mhac an chait ‘crimes of the cat’s son’

6) Any singular noun after sa/san ‘in the’, den ‘from/off the’, or don ‘to/for the’ (E1, E3):

don ghlantóir ‘for the cleaner’

sa tor ‘in the bush’(E1)

den tsíleáil ‘off the ceiling’(E3)

don teach ‘for the house’(E1)

7) Any indefinite singular noun after the simple prepositions ar ‘on’,⁴⁸ faoi ‘under’, ó ‘from’, de ‘from’, do ‘to, for’, roimh ‘before’, trí ‘through’, mar ‘as’, um ‘around’, and any verbal noun after a ‘to’:⁴⁹

ar pháipéar ‘on paper’

faoi uisce ‘under water’

ó tharraiceán ‘from a drawer’

de ghlanmheabhair ‘from memory’

do dhuine ‘for a person’

roimh fhuinneog ‘before a window’

trí cheo ‘through fog’

mar thine ‘like fire’

um Shamhain ‘around Halloween’

a theacht ‘to come’

8) Any noun after idir ‘both’:⁵⁰

idir mhná agus fhir ‘both women and men’

idir mhúinteorí agus mhic léinn ‘both teachers and students’

9) Any definite, proper, or otherwise specific noun after thar ‘past’:⁵¹

thar chríoch an fhearainn ‘past the edge of the field’

thar Ghaillimh ‘past Galway’

thar dhuine ar an gcoirnéal ‘past a person on the corner’

thar bheirt acu ‘past two of them’

10) Any indefinite noun alone after gan ‘without’ (E1a⁵² and proper nouns):

gan chúis ‘without cause’

gan teip ‘without fail’ (E1a)

gan fonn ‘without desire’ (E1a)

11) A definite or proper noun in the genitive case after any compound preposition:

in éadan fhoireann an bhaile eile ‘against the other town’s team’

i láthair a mhic ‘in his son’s presence’

de réir Phádraigín ‘according to Pádraigín’

12) Any noun after mo ‘my’, do ‘your’, or a ‘his’:

mo pheann ‘my pen’

do phost ‘your job’

d’oifig⁵³ ‘your office’

a chíor ‘his comb’

13) Any noun after uile ‘all, every’:

gach uile fhocal ‘every word’

an uile phaidir ‘every prayer’

14) Any noun after aon ‘one, any’ or chéad ‘first’ (E1):

aon chaoi ‘any opportunity’

an chéad cheist ‘the first question’

aon duine ‘anyone’(E1)

an chéad fhear ‘the first man’

15) Any singular noun after dhá ‘two’,⁵⁴ trí ‘three’, ceithre ‘four’, cúig ‘five’, or sé ‘six’. In addition, when a ^h ‘her’, ár^E ‘our’, bhur^E ‘your’, or a^E ‘their’ precedes dhá, the noun after dhá undergoes the mutation normally caused by the possessive adjective instead of the lenition normally caused by dhá, e.g. a dhá cois ‘her two feet’. trí ‘three’, ceithre ‘four’, cúig ‘five’, or sé ‘six’:

dhá cheann⁵⁵ ‘two [of them]’

trí charn ‘three heaps’

ceithre fhocal ‘four words’

cúig mhíle ‘five miles’

sé dhath ‘six colors’

16) Any noun after beirt ‘two people’:

beirt bhan ‘two women’

beirt cheoltóirí ‘two musicians’

17) Any noun after a past or conditional form of the copula, ba/ab, níor/níorbh, ar/arbh, nár/ nárbh, gur/gurbh (see The Copula: Forms):

Ar chat a bhí ann?

‘Was it a cat that was there?’

Níorbh fhéidir leis bheith ann in am.

‘He couldn’t be there in time.’

Ar ghluaisteán a mharaigh é?

‘Was it a car that killed it?’

Tá Jennifer agus M. K. cinnte nár ghadhar a mharaigh é.

‘Jennifer and M. K. are certain it wasn’t a dog that killed it.’

Creidtear gurbh fhear i ngluaisteán a mharaigh é.

‘It’s believed that it was a man in a car that killed it.’

19) A proper noun after the surname elements Mhic, Ní/Nic, and Uí:

leanbh Chiaráin Mhic Mhathúna ‘Ciarán Mac Mathúna’s child’

seoladh Mháire Nic Phiarais ‘Máire Nic Phiarais’s address’

oifig Bhriain Uí Chonchubhair ‘Brian Ó Conchubhair’s office’

Note: Dé ‘God; day’, San ‘Saint’, and Déardaoin ‘Thursday’ are exempt from lenition under any circumstances. Nouns are not lenited after Dé ‘Day’, Féile ‘Festival, Feast-Day’, Naomh ‘Saint’, San ‘Saint’, or chun ‘toward’:

ar son Dé ‘for God’s sake’

Dé Máirt ‘Tuesday’

Lá Fhéile Pádraig ‘Saint Patrick’s Day’

tobar Naomh Bríd ‘Saint Bridget’s Well’

ospidéal San Séamas ‘Saint James’ Hospital’

chun fothana ‘toward shelter’

Eclipsis

1) Any noun after the Possessive Adjectives ár ‘our’, bhur ‘your’, and a ‘their’:

ár gcairde ‘our friends’

bhur dtuismitheoirí ‘your parents’

a ngluaisteán ‘their car’

2) Any singular noun after the Cardinal Numbers seacht ‘seven’, ocht ‘eight’, naoi ‘nine’, and deich ‘ten’:

seacht gcinn⁵⁶ ‘seven [of them]’

ocht mbliana ‘eight years’

naoi gcéad ‘nine hundred’

deich bpunt ‘ten pounds’

3) Any definite noun in the genitive plural:

dathanna na ngaoth ‘the colors of the winds’

ainmneacha na dturtar ‘the turtles’ names’

4) Any noun after the Simple Prepositions i ‘in’, go ‘up to’, and in certain idioms, ar ‘on’:

i ndáiríre ‘in earnest’

go bhfios dúinn ‘to the best of our knowledge’

ar ndóigh ‘of course’

5) Any definite singular noun⁵⁷ after the Simple Prepositions ag ‘at’, ar ‘on’, as ‘out of’, faoi ‘under’, le ‘with’, ó ‘from’, roimh ‘before’, trí ‘through’, chuig ‘toward’, thar ‘past’, um ‘around’, or dar ‘by’:⁵⁸

ag an oifig ‘at the office’

ar an bpláta ‘on the plate’

as an mbuidéal ‘out of the bottle’

faoin mbord ‘under the table’

leis an ngaoth ‘with the wind’

ón bhfeirm ‘from the farm’

roimh an doras ‘before the door’

tríd an sruth ‘through the stream’

chuig an tír ‘toward the land’

thar an abhainn ‘across the river’

um an lios ‘around the ringfort’

dar an gCruthaitheoir! ‘by the Maker!’