eala

See also: -eala and -eală

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish ela, elae, from Old Irish elu,^[1] from Proto-Celtic *eli- (“swan”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- (“swan”). Cognates within Celtic include Breton alarc’h, Cornish alargh, Welsh alarch, and outside Celtic Latin olor and Ancient Greek ἐλέᾱ (eléā, “reed warbler”).^[2]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈal̪ˠə/^[3], /ˈɑlˠə/^[4], /ˈalˠə/^[5]

Noun

eala f (genitive singular eala, nominative plural ealaí)

swan
- 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect], volume II (overall work in German), Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 22:
  xøn̄ik mē ȧlə eŕ ə l̄ox.
  [Chonaic mé eala ar an loch.]
  I saw a swan on the lake.
- 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect], volume II (overall work in German), Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 22:
  əs mō šḱihān ən ȧlə n̄ā šḱihān ǵē.
  [Is mó sciathán an eala ná sciathán gé.]
  The wing of the swan is larger than the wing of a goose.
- 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect], volume II (overall work in German), Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 22:
  xuə šȧxt n-ȧlə harm̥ sn̥ ēr əńú.
  [Chuaigh seacht n-eala tharam san aer inniu.]
  Seven swans went past me in the air today.

Declension

Declension of eala (fourth declension)

bare forms
	singular	plural
nominative	eala	ealaí
vocative	a eala	a ealaí
genitive	eala	ealaí
dative	eala	ealaí

forms with the definite article
	singular	plural
nominative	an eala	na healaí
genitive	na heala	na n-ealaí
dative	leis an eala don eala	leis na healaí

Archaic dative singular: ealainn

Mutation

Mutated forms of *eala*
radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
eala	n-eala	heala	not applicable

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

References

^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 ela”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
^ Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*elV-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 114–15
^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931), Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 75
^ Ó Searcaigh, Séamus (1925), Foghraidheacht Ghaedhilge an Tuaiscirt [Pronunciation of Northern Irish]‎^[1] (in Irish), Béal Feirste [Belfast]: Brún agus Ó Nualláin [Browne and Nolan], section 2, page 5
^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906), A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 81

Old English

Alternative forms

ēlā, ēawlā, ǣlā, ǣalā, hēlā, hiġla, ēale

Etymology

Perhaps from a compound whose elements answer to ēa (“oh!, ah!”) +‎ lā (“lo”). Compare Old Frisian ēala (“hail!, hello!”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈæ͜ɑːˌlɑː/

Interjection

ēalā

oh; hey; good heavens; frequently glosses Latin O and eheu.
Ēalā frēond, hwȳ eart þū swā sċēoh?
Oh friend, why are you so shy?
- late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History
  Ēalā brōðor Eċġberht, ēalā, hwæt dydest þū?
  Oh brother Egbert, oh, what have you done?

Conjunction

ēalā

if only
- c. 897, King Alfred's translation of Pope Gregory's Pastoral Care
  Ēalā wǣre hē āwðer oþþe hāt oþþe ċeald.
  If only he was either hot or cold.

Derived terms

ēalā ġif

Descendants

Middle English: halloo, halow
- English: hallo, hello

Old Frisian

Interjection

ēala

hail!
Eala, frya Fresena!
Hail, free Frisians!

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish ela, elae, from Old Irish elu, from Proto-Celtic *eli- (“swan”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- (“swan”).

Pronunciation

(Lewis) IPA^(key): /ˈjal̪ˠə/, (Bernera) [ˈi̯al̪ˠə]^[1], (Lochs) [ˈæ̯ɑl̪ˠə]^[2]
(Harris, North Uist) IPA^(key): /ˈeal̪ˠə/^[3]
(South Uist, Skye, Wester Ross) IPA^(key): /ˈæl̪ˠə/ [ˈe̯al̪ˠə]^[4]
(Barra) IPA^(key): /ˈæl̪ˠʌ/ [ˈeæ̞l̪ˠʌ]^[3]
(Islay) IPA^(key): /ˈjɑ.l̪ˠə/ [ˈjɑˀl̪ˠə]^[5]

Noun

eala f (genitive singular ealaidh, plural ealachan)

swan

Mutation

Mutation of *eala*
radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
eala	n-eala	h-eala	t-eala

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

References

^ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1940), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. I: The dialects of the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 62
^ Oftedal, M. (1956), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. III: The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 130
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1940), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. I: The dialects of the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 134
^ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1941), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. II: The dialects of Skye and Ross-shire, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, pages 11, 69
^ Holmer, Nils M. (1938), Studies on Argyllshire Gaelic, Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells boktryckeri-A.-B., page 160

[1] Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 ela”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

[2] Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*elV-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 114–15

[3] Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931), Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 75

[4] Ó Searcaigh, Séamus (1925), Foghraidheacht Ghaedhilge an Tuaiscirt [Pronunciation of Northern Irish]‎^[1] (in Irish), Béal Feirste [Belfast]: Brún agus Ó Nualláin [Browne and Nolan], section 2, page 5

[5] Quiggin, E. C. (1906), A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 81

[6] Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1940), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. I: The dialects of the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 62

[7] Oftedal, M. (1956), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. III: The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 130

[p134-8] 3.0 ^3.1 Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1940), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. I: The dialects of the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, page 134

[9] Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1941), A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. II: The dialects of Skye and Ross-shire, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, pages 11, 69

[10] Holmer, Nils M. (1938), Studies on Argyllshire Gaelic, Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells boktryckeri-A.-B., page 160

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Irish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Mutation

References

Further reading

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Interjection

Conjunction

Derived terms

Descendants

Old Frisian

Interjection

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Mutation

References