bonnán buí

Irish

Alternative forms

buinneán buí

Etymology

Literally, “yellow bittern”; however, it is unlikely to refer to the bird known in English as the yellow bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis), which is native to Central and East Asia and unknown in Ireland. Dictionaries gloss bonnán buí (and bonnán léana (literally “water-meadow bittern”)) simply as “bittern”, but it probably refers specifically to the common, Eurasian or great bittern (Botaurus stellaris), which was common in Ireland until the mid-19th century.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈbˠɪn̠ʲanˠ ˈbˠiː/, /ˈbˠɪn̠ʲan̪ˠ ˈbˠiː/^[2] (corresponding to the form buinneán buí)

Noun

bonnán buí m (genitive singular bonnáin bhuí, nominative plural bonnáin bhuí)

bittern

Declension

Declension of bonnán buí (first declension)

bare forms
	singular	plural
nominative	bonnán buí	bonnáin bhuí
vocative	a bhonnáin bhuí	a bhonnána buí
genitive	bonnáin bhuí	bonnán buí
dative	bonnán buí	bonnáin bhuí

forms with the definite article
	singular	plural
nominative	an bonnán buí	na bonnáin bhuí
genitive	an bhonnáin bhuí	na mbonnán buí
dative	leis an mbonnán buí don bhonnán bhuí	leis na bonnáin bhuí

Mutation

Mutated forms of *bonnán buí*
radical	lenition	eclipsis
bonnán buí	bhonnán buí	mbonnán buí

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

References

^ Ana Queiros (2023) “Great Bitterns in Ireland”, in National Museum of Ireland‎^[1], retrieved 23 August 2023
^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 251, page 90