bealach

See also: béalach

English

Etymology

From Irish bealach.

Noun

bealach (plural bealachs)

  1. (Ireland) A mountain pass.
    • 2018, Cameron McNeish, There's Always The Hills:
      These scoured-out basins form the grain of the land but excellent tracks weave their way through glens and up over the bealachs at their heads, giving good access to the summits, and what summits they are.

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish belach (“gap, pass, road, path”),[1] perhaps from Proto-Celtic *bolko-, from Proto-Indo-European *bel- (“to dig, cut off?”), and possibly cognate with Welsh bwlch (“gap, pass”), Old Armenian պեղեմ (pełem, “to dig, hollow”), and Sanskrit बिल (bila, “hole, pit”).[2][3]

Pronunciation

  • (Munster) IPA(key): /bʲəˈl̪ˠɑx/
  • (Aran) IPA(key): /ˈbʲalˠəx/; /ˈbˠɑlˠəx/[4] (as if spelled balach)
  • (Connemara, Mayo) IPA(key): /ˈbʲalˠəx/
  • (Ulster) IPA(key): /ˈbʲalˠa(x)/[5]

Noun

bealach m (genitive singular bealaigh, nominative plural bealaí)

  1. way
  2. road
    Synonyms: bóthar, ród
  3. route
    Synonyms: caoi, slí
  4. passage, thoroughfare
  5. direction
  6. journey
  7. manner, method
    Synonyms: bóthar, modh
  8. (broadcasting) channel
    Synonym: cainéal

Declension

Declension of bealach (first declension)
bare forms
singular plural
nominative bealach bealaí
vocative a bhealaigh a bhealaí
genitive bealaigh bealaí
dative bealach bealaí
forms with the definite article
singular plural
nominative an bealach na bealaí
genitive an bhealaigh na mbealaí
dative leis an mbealach
don bhealach 		leis na bealaí

Derived terms

Mutation

Mutated forms of bealach
radical lenition eclipsis
bealach bhealach mbealach

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

  1. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “belach”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
  2. ^ Petersson, Herbert (1916) “Beiträge zur armenischen Wortkunde”, in Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung (in German), volume 47, number 3/4, pages 264–265
  3. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 96
  4. ^ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), Zweiter Band: Wörterbuch [Second volume: Dictionary], Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 37
  5. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 330, page 114

Further reading

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish belach (“gap, pass, road, path”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈb̥jal̪ˠəx/[1]

Noun

bealach m (genitive singular bealaich, plural bealaichean)

  1. defile, passage, pass or gorge of a mountain, glen
  2. gap, breach (in a wall or fence)
  3. gateway, gate
  4. road

Mutation

Mutation of bealach
radical lenition
bealach bhealach

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

  1. ^ Jenny Ladefoged, Peter Ladefoged, Alice Turk, Kevin Hind (5 February 1996) “Word List for Scottish Gaelic (Great Bernera, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland)”, in The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive‎[1], Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics

Further reading

  • Edward Dwelly (1911) “bealach”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎[2], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
  • Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “belach”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
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