abhainn

Irish

Alternative forms

• abha, abhann
• abh (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Irish aub, from Proto-Celtic *abū (compare Welsh afon), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“water”). The form abhainn was originally the dative singular of abha, but is now widely used as the nominative as well. Doublet of Amain (“the Almond, a river in Scotland”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ɑɯnʲ/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /əun̠ʲ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /oːn̠ʲ/

Noun

abhainn f (genitive singular abhann or aibhne, nominative plural aibhneacha or aibhne)

1. river

   Níl aon abhainn san oileán.

   There’s no river on the island.

   Dá dtéiteá go Gaillimh inné, d’fhéadfá a dhul isteach an abhainn go réidh, mar nach raibh aon tsruth mór.

   If you had gone to Galway yesterday, you would have easily been able to go up the river, since there wasn’t a very strong current.

   Bhí an abhainn reoite.

   The river was frozen.

   bruach na haibhne ― the riverbank

   Bhí na haibhneacha uilig reoite.

   All the rivers were frozen.

   Dhá mbeadh an t-airgead againn, ghabhfadh muid do haibhneacha Chill Airne.

   If we had the money, we would go to the rivers of Killarney.

Declension

Standard

Declension of abhainn (fifth declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative abhainn aibhneacha vocative a abhainn a aibhneacha genitive abhann aibhneacha dative abhainn aibhneacha forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an abhainn na haibhneacha genitive na habhann na n-aibhneacha dative leis an abhainn don abhainn leis na haibhneacha

Nonstandard

Declension of abhainn (second declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative abhainn aibhne vocative a abhainn a aibhne genitive aibhne aibhne dative abhainn aibhne forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an abhainn na haibhne genitive na haibhne na n-aibhne dative leis an abhainn don abhainn leis na haibhne

• Variant genitive singular: abhainne, abhna
• Variant plural forms: abhanta, aibhnte, aibhnteacha

Derived terms

• abhantrach (“river basin”)
• craobh-abhainn (“affluent, tributary”)
• fo-abhainn (“affluent, tributary”)
• tréig-abhainn (“distributary”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of abhainn

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
abhainn	n-abhainn	habhainn	not applicable

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

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “abhainn”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959), “abhainn”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “abhainn”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2026

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish aub, from Proto-Celtic *abū (compare Welsh afon), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“water”). The form abhainn was originally the dative singular of abha, but is now widely used as the nominative/accusative as well. Doublet of Àmain (“the Almond, a river in Scotland”).

Pronunciation

• (Lewis, Harris, West Sutherland, Colonsay, Arran) IPA^(key): /ˈãvɪɲ/
• (Uist, Barra, north west Skye, Eigg, East Sutherland, Easter Ross) IPA^(key): /ˈãũ.ɪɲ/
• (Trotternish, Raasay) IPA^(key): /ˈã.ɪɲ/
• (Tiree, Mull) IPA^(key): [ˈaʔʊɲ]
• (Islay) IPA^(key): [ˈoʔʊɲ]
• (Wester Ross, Lismore) IPA^(key): /ˈã.uɲ/, [ˈã.ʊʲɲ]

Noun

abhainn f (genitive singular aibhne, plural aibhnichean)

1. river, stream

See also

• sruth

Mutation

Mutation of abhainn

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
abhainn	n-abhainn	h-abhainn	t-abhainn

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

Further reading

• Edward Dwelly (1911), “abhainn”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 ab”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Cathair Ó Dochartaigh, editor (1994), Survey of the Gaelic Dialects of Scotland, volume II, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, pages 4-7