ulchabhán

Irish

Alternative forms

ulagán, ulcachán, ulchabhchán

Etymology

From Classical Gaelic ulchobc(h)án, ulchubc(h)án (“owl”). Might consist of ul- from Latin ulula (“owl”) + Classical Gaelic cobcan (some kind of bird), which is perhaps from Old English hafoc (“hawk”) + -án (diminutive suffix).^[1]

Noun

ulchabhán m (genitive singular ulchabháin, nominative plural ulchabháin)

owl
Synonym: cailleach oíche

Declension

Declension of ulchabhán (first declension)

bare forms
	singular	plural
nominative	ulchabhán	ulchabháin
vocative	a ulchabháin	a ulchabhána
genitive	ulchabháin	ulchabhán
dative	ulchabhán	ulchabháin

forms with the definite article
	singular	plural
nominative	an t-ulchabhán	na hulchabháin
genitive	an ulchabháin	na n-ulchabhán
dative	leis an ulchabhán don ulchabhán	leis na hulchabháin

Derived terms

cearc ulchabháin f (“Jenny owl”)
gearrcach ulchabháin m (“owlet”)
mionulchabhán m (“Eurasian pygmy owl”)
rí-ulchabhán m (“eagle owl”)
ulchabhán beag m (“little owl”)
ulchabhán donn m (“tawny owl”)
ulchabhán mór m (“stock-owl”)
ulchabhán réisc m (“short-eared owl”)
ulchabhán scopach m (“scops(-owl)”)
ulchabhán síofrach m (“elf owl”)
ulchabhán sneachtúil m (“snowy owl”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of *ulchabhán*
radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
ulchabhán	n-ulchabhán	hulchabhán	t-ulchabhán

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

References

^ Vendryes, Joseph (1959–96) “ulchobc(h)án”, in Lexique Étymologique de l'Irlandais Ancien [Etymological lexicon of Old Irish] (in French), volume T U, Dublin, Paris: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, page U-24

Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ulchabhán”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ulchobc(h)án, ulchubc(h)án”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “ulchabhán”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
“ulchabhán”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025

[1] Vendryes, Joseph (1959–96) “ulchobc(h)án”, in Lexique Étymologique de l'Irlandais Ancien [Etymological lexicon of Old Irish] (in French), volume T U, Dublin, Paris: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, page U-24

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