aiféala

Irish

Alternative forms

• aiféile
• aithmhéala, aithmhéile (superseded)

Etymology

From Middle Irish aithméla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈafʲeːlˠə/
• IPA^(key): /ˈafʲeːɾˠ/, /ˈafʲeːlˠ/ (as if spelled aiféar, aiféal)

Noun

aiféala m (genitive singular aiféala)

1. regret, remorse
   • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, volume II (overall work in German), Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 21:

     ńīl orm̥ ax ȧfēr fȳ n æmšŕ̥, ə tā kȧlc am.

     conventional orthography: Níl orm ach aiféala faoin aimsir atá cailte agam.

     I regret only the time I’ve lost.

   • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, volume II (overall work in German), Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 21:

     tā ȧfēr rī wōr orm̥, n̄ax vēdĭm n̥ ceŕəvīš šin ə jīnə ʒic.

     conventional orthography: Tá aiféala rímhór orm nach bhféadaim an tseirbhís sin a dhéanamh dhuit.

     I greatly regret that I can’t perform that service for you.

2. shame, shamefacedness

Declension

Declension of aiféala

Fourth declension

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

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Nominative an t-aiféala Genitive an aiféala Dative leis an aiféala don aiféala

Related terms

• aiféaltas m (“shame, embarrassment; regret”)

Mutation

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

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “aiféala”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “aithméla”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Template:R:ga:Dinneen
• Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 256
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “aiféala”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “aiféala”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024