-áil

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ail"

Irish

Alternative forms

-áilt

Etymology

Extracted from gabháil and fáil (earlier faghbháil).

Pronunciation

(Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /aːlʲ/
(Ulster) IPA^(key): /ælʲ/; /æl̠ʲtʲ/ (corresponding to the form -áilt)

Suffix

-áil f

suffix used to form verbal nouns
fáil, formerly spelled fagháil, verbal noun of faigh (“to get”)

gabháil, verbal noun of gabh (“to take”)

Declension

Declension of -áil (third declension)

bare forms
	singular	plural
nominative	-áil	-álacha
vocative	a -áil	a -álacha
genitive	-ála	-álacha
dative	-áil	-álacha

forms with the definite article
	singular	plural
nominative	an -áil	na -álacha
genitive	na -ála	na -álacha
dative	leis an -áil don -áil	leis na -álacha

Suffix

-áil

suffix used productively to form denominative verbs and their associated verbal nouns
‎iarann (“iron”) + ‎-áil → ‎iarnáil (“to iron”)

‎spág (“a big, clumsy foot”) + ‎-áil → ‎spágáil (“to shamble, trudge”)

Usage notes

This suffix is particularly common with English loanwords. The Irish-language poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh in his poem "Cainteoir Dúchais" (published 1997 in the collection Out in the Open) uses the following verbs, most of them probably nonce words: