Béarla

Irish

Etymology

Ellipsis of Béarla gallda (“foreign speech”) from béarla (“speech, language”), from Old Irish bélrae, from bél (“mouth”).[1][2] Compare Scottish Gaelic Beurla Ghallta.

Pronunciation

  • (Munster) IPA(key): /ˈbʲiːa̯ɾˠl̪ˠə/[3]
  • (Connacht) IPA(key): /ˈbʲeːɾˠl̪ˠə/
  • (Ulster) IPA(key): /ˈbʲeːɾˠl̪ˠə/, [ˈbʲɛːɾˠl̪ˠə][4]

Proper noun

Béarla m (genitive Béarla)

  1. English (language)
    Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste ná Béarla cliste. (proverb)
    Broken Irish is better than clever English.

Usage notes

  • The definite article is not always used with this noun.

Derived terms

Mutation

Mutated forms of Béarla
radical lenition eclipsis
Béarla Bhéarla mBéarla

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

References

  1. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “bélrae”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
  2. ^ anonymous author (9 November 2023) “Béarla, Punt, Fliuch: A history of Ireland in 10 little words”, in The Irish Times‎[1], retrieved 1 May 2024
  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, § 77, page 42
  4. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 86, page 35

Further reading

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