sleamhain
Irish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Old Irish slemon,[1] from Proto-Celtic *slimnos, from Proto-Indo-European *sley- (“smear”). Cognate with Scottish Gaelic sleamhainn, Manx shliawin, Welsh llyfn (“smooth”), Old Breton limn, English slip.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]sleamhain (genitive singular feminine sleamhaine, plural sleamhna, comparative sleamhaine)
Declension
[edit]| singular | plural (m/f) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | masculine | feminine | (strong noun) | (weak noun) |
| nominative | sleamhain | shleamhain | sleamhna; shleamhna2 | |
| vocative | shleamhain | sleamhna | ||
| genitive | sleamhaine | sleamhna | sleamhain | |
| dative | sleamhain; shleamhain1 |
shleamhain | sleamhna; shleamhna2 | |
| Comparative | níos sleamhaine | |||
| Superlative | is sleamhaine | |||
1 When the preceding noun is lenited and governed by the definite article.
2 When the preceding noun ends in a slender consonant.
Derived terms
[edit]- sleamhnachán m (“smooth spot”)
- sleamhnánach (“smooth, slippery”, adjective)
- sleamhnánaí m (“sly one”)
- sleamhnóg f (“butterfish”)
Related terms
[edit]- sleamhaine (“slipperiness”)
- sleamhnaigh (“to slip, to slide”)
- sleamhnán (“slide; sledge”)
Mutation
[edit]| radical | lenition | eclipsis |
|---|---|---|
| sleamhain | shleamhain after an, tsleamhain |
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
[edit]- ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “slemon, slemain”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
- ^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 202, page 102
- ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 40, page 19
Further reading
[edit]- “sleamhain”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
- Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “sleaṁain”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 653
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “sleamhain”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN