comhairle

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish comairle (“advice, counsel, council”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoːɾˠl̠ʲə/, /ˈkõːɾˠl̠ʲə/

Noun

comhairle f (genitive singular comhairle, nominative plural comhairlí or comhairleacha)

1. (piece of) advice, counsel; direction, influence
2. council

Declension

Declension of comhairle

Fourth declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative comhairle comhairlí Vocative a chomhairle a chomhairlí Genitive comhairle comhairlí Dative comhairle comhairlí

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an chomhairle na comhairlí Genitive na comhairle na gcomhairlí Dative leis an gcomhairle don chomhairle leis na comhairlí

• Alternative plural: comhairleacha

Derived terms

• ardchomhairle (“supreme council”)
• comhairleach (“advisory, consultative”, adjective)
• comhairleoir (“adviser, counsellor; councillor”)
• comhairligh (“advise, counsel; decide, resolve”, verb)
• dea-chomhairle (“good counsel”)

 

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
comhairle	chomhairle	gcomhairle
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “comhairle”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “comhairle”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “comhairle”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “comairle”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

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Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish comairle (“advice, counsel, council”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʰɔ̃.ərˠʎə/

Noun

comhairle f (genitive singular comhairle, plural comhairlean)

1. advice
2. council

Derived terms

• comhairle-riaghlaidh (“junta”)
• comhairlich (“advise”, verb)
• comhairliche (“councillor”)
• neach-comhairle (“counselor”)
• tairg comhairle do (“advise”, verb)
• thoir comhairle air/do (“advise”, verb)

 

Mutation

Mutation of comhairle

radical	lenition
comhairle	chomhairle

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) “comhairle”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan‎^[1], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “comairle”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language