beithe

Old Irish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈbʲeθʲe]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *betuyā

Noun

beithe m (genitive beithi, nominative plural beithi)

  1. birch tree, birchwood
  2. the letter B of the Ogham alphabet
Inflection
Masculine io-stem
singular dual plural
nominative beithe beitheL beithiL
vocative beithi beitheL beithiu
accusative beitheN beitheL beithiuH
genitive beithiL beitheL beitheN
dative beithiuL beithib beithib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization
Descendants
  • Middle Irish: beith f

Further reading

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

beithe

  1. second-person plural present subjunctive absolute of at·tá

Mutation

Mutation of beithe
radical lenition nasalization
beithe beithe
pronounced with /βʲ-/
mbeithe

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

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish beith, from Old Irish beithe. Cognates include Irish beith and Manx beih.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpehə/
  • Hyphenation: bei‧the

Noun

beithe f

  1. birch

Declension

Declension of beithe (class IId feminine noun)
indefinite
singular plural
nominative beithe beithean
genitive beithe bheithean
dative beithe beithean; beithibh
definite
singular plural
nominative (a') bheithe (na) beithean
genitive (na) beithe (nam) beithean
dative (a') bheithe (na) beithean; beithibh
vocative bheithe bheithean

obsolete form, used until the 19th century

Mutation

Mutation of beithe
radical lenition
beithe bheithe

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

References

  • Mark, Colin (2003) “beithe”, in The Gaelic–English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 71