See also: -eala and -eală

Irish

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Etymology

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From Middle Irish ela, elae, from Old Irish elu,[1] from Proto-Celtic *eli- (swan), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- (swan). Cognates within Celtic include Breton alarc’h, Cornish alargh, Welsh alarch, and outside Celtic Latin olor and Ancient Greek ἐλέα (eléa, marsh bird).[2]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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eala f (genitive singular eala, nominative plural ealaí)

  1. swan
    • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, volume II (overall work in German), Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 22:
      xøn̄ik mē ȧlə eŕ ə l̄ox.
      [Chonaic mé eala ar an loch.]
      I saw a swan on the lake.
    • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, volume II (overall work in German), Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 22:
      əs mō šḱihān ən ȧlə n̄ā šḱihān ǵē.
      [Is mó sciathán an eala ná sciathán gé.]
      The wing of the swan is larger than the wing of a goose.
    • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, volume II (overall work in German), Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 22:
      xuə šȧxt n-ȧlə harm̥ sn̥ ēr əńú.
      [Chuaigh seacht n-eala tharam san aer inniu.]
      Seven swans went past me in the air today.

Declension

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Mutation

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Irish mutation
Radical Eclipsis with h-prothesis with t-prothesis
eala n-eala heala not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

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  1. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 ela”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
  2. ^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*elV-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 114–15
  3. ^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 75
  4. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 81

Further reading

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Old English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Perhaps from a compound whose elements answer to ēa (oh!, ah!) +‎ (lo). Compare Old Frisian ēala (hail!, hello!).

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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ēalā

  1. oh; hey
    Ēalā frēond, hwȳ eart þū swā sċēoh?
    Oh friend, why are you so shy?

Conjunction

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ēalā

  1. if only

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Middle English: halloo, halow

Old Frisian

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Interjection

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ēala

  1. hail!
    Eala, frya Fresena!
    Hail, free Frisians!

Scottish Gaelic

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Etymology

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From Middle Irish ela, elae, from Old Irish elu, from Proto-Celtic *eli- (swan), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- (swan).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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eala f (genitive singular ealaidh, plural ealachan)

  1. swan

Mutation

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Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical Eclipsis with h-prothesis with t-prothesis
eala n-eala h-eala t-eala
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

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  1. ^ Oftedal, M. (1956) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. III: The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
  2. ^ Mac Gill-Fhinnein, Gordon (1966) Gàidhlig Uidhist a Deas, Dublin: Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath
  3. ^ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937) The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap