babaí

Irish

Etymology

From dialectal English babby, babbie. [from 20th c.]

Replaced the now obsolete báibín, diminutive of báb, which is also from Middle English babe.

Noun

babaí m (genitive singular babaí, nominative plural babaithe)

1. baby (infant)

   Synonym: leanbh

Declension

Declension of babaí

Fourth declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative babaí babaithe Vocative a bhabaí a bhabaithe Genitive babaí babaithe Dative babaí babaithe

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an babaí na babaithe Genitive an bhabaí na mbabaithe Dative leis an mbabaí don bhabaí leis na babaithe

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
babaí	bhabaí	mbabaí
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• “babaí”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “babaí”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN