bailbhe

Irish

Etymology 1

From Old Irish bailbe, balbae f (“silence, stillness; inarticulateness, stammering”).

Noun

bailbhe f (genitive singular bailbhe)

1. dumbness, muteness; stammering

   Synonyms: bailbheacht, bailbhíocht, balbhántaíocht

Declension

Declension of bailbhe

Fourth declension

Bare forms (no plural of this noun) Case Singular Nominative bailbhe Vocative a bhailbhe Genitive bailbhe Dative bailbhe

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Nominative an bhailbhe Genitive na bailbhe Dative leis an mbailbhe don bhailbhe

Alternative forms

• bailbhí

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

bailbhe

1. inflection of balbh (“dumb, mute; inarticulate; dull; silent”):
   1. genitive singular feminine
   2. comparative degree

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
bailbhe	bhailbhe	mbailbhe
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “bailbhe”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm

References

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bailbhe”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “balbae”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language