faoin

Irish

Alternative forms

• fán, fá’n (Ulster)
• faoi’n (superseded)
• fén, fé’n (Munster)
• fón, fó’n (Munster)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fˠiːnʲ/

Contraction

faoin

1. contraction of faoi +‎ an

   under the

   about the

Usage notes

Depending on dialect, triggers either lenition or eclipsis of the following consonant (except d, s, t):

• faoin fhuinneog/bhfuinneog

  under the window

Related terms

Irish preposition contractions

	contracted with							copular forms
base form	an (“the sg”)	na (“the pl”)	mo (“my”)	do (“your”)	a (“his, her, their; which (present)”)	ár (“our”)	ar (“which (past)”)	before a consonant	before a vowel
									present/future	past/conditional
de (“from”)	den	de na desna*	de mo dem*	de do ded*, det*	dá	dár		dar	darb	darbh
do (“to, for”)	don	do na dosna*	do mo dom*	do do dod*, dot*	dá	dár		dar	darb	darbh
faoi (“under, about”)	faoin	faoi na	faoi mo	faoi do	faoina	faoinár	faoinar		faoinarb	faoinarbh
i (“in”)	sa, san	sna	i mo im*	i do id*, it*	ina	inár	inar		inarb	inarbh
le (“with”)	leis an	leis na	le mo lem*	le do led*, let*	lena	lenár	lenar		lenarb	lenarbh
ó (“from, since”)	ón	ó na ósna*	ó mo óm*	ó do ód*, ót*	óna	ónár	ónar		ónarb	ónarbh
trí (“through”)	tríd an	trí na	trí mo	trí do	trína	trínár	trínar		trínarb	trínarbh

*dialectal

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish fáen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɯːɲ/

Adjective

faoin (comparative nas faoine, superlative as faoine)

1. silly, foolish, daft, inane, naive
2. futile, vain
3. frivolous, giddy
4. superficial, shallow, vacuous

Declension

Declension of faoin (type II adjective)

	masculine	feminine	plural
nominative	faoin	fhaoin	faoine
genitive	fhaoin	faoine	faoine
dative	faoin	fhaoin	faoine
vocative	fhaoin	fhaoin	faoine

Mutation

Mutation of faoin

radical	lenition
faoin	fhaoin

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

References

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