# abhainn
## Irish
### Alternative forms

* abha, abhann
* abh (obsolete)

### Etymology

From Old Irish aub, from Proto-Celtic *abū (compare Welsh afon), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“water”). The form abhainn was originally the dative singular of abha, but is now widely used as the nominative as well.

### Pronunciation

* (Munster) IPA: /ɑɯnʲ/
* (Connacht) IPA: /əun̠ʲ/
* (Ulster) IPA: /oːn̠ʲ/

### Noun

abhainn f (genitive singular abhann or aibhne, nominative plural aibhneacha or aibhne)
* river
    Níl aon abhainn san oileán.There’s no river on the island.
    Dá dtéiteá go Gaillimh inné, d’fhéadfá a dhul isteach an abhainn go réidh, mar nach raibh aon tsruth mór.If you had gone to Galway yesterday, you would have easily been able to go up the river, since there wasn’t a very strong current.
    Bhí an abhainn reoite.The river was frozen.
    bruach na haibhne ― the riverbank
    Bhí na haibhneacha uilig reoite.All the rivers were frozen.
    Dhá mbeadh an t-airgead againn, ghabhfadh muid do haibhneacha Chill Airne.If we had the money, we would go to the rivers of Killarney.

#### Declension
##### Standard

bare forms
case
singular
plural
nominative
abhainn
aibhneacha
vocative
a abhainn
a aibhneacha
genitive
abhann
aibhneacha
dative
abhainn
aibhneacha
forms with the definite article
case
singular
plural
nominative
an abhainn
na haibhneacha
genitive
na habhann
na n-aibhneacha
dative
leis an abhainn don abhainn
leis na haibhneacha :

##### Nonstandard

bare forms
case
singular
plural
nominative
abhainn
aibhne
vocative
a abhainn
a aibhne
genitive
aibhne
aibhne
dative
abhainn
aibhne
forms with the definite article
case
singular
plural
nominative
an abhainn
na haibhne
genitive
na haibhne
na n-aibhne
dative
leis an abhainn don abhainn
leis na haibhne :
* Variant genitive singular: abhainne, abhna
* Variant plural forms: abhanta, aibhnte, aibhnteacha

#### Derived terms

* abhantrach (“river basin”)
* craobh-abhainn (“affluent, tributary”)
* fo-abhainn (“affluent, tributary”)
* tréig-abhainn (“distributary”)

### Mutation

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

### References

* ↑ Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “aḃa”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 2
* ↑ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 ab”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* ↑ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 195, page 98
* ↑ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 40, page 18

### Further reading

* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “abhainn”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
* de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “abhainn”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
* “abhainn”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

## Scottish Gaelic
### Etymology

From Old Irish aub, from Proto-Celtic *abū (compare Welsh afon), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“water”). The form abhainn was originally the dative singular of abha, but is now widely used as the nominative/accusative as well.

### Pronunciation

* (Lewis, Harris, West Sutherland, Colonsay, Arran) IPA: /ˈãvɪɲ/
* (Uist, Barra, north west Skye, Eigg, East Sutherland, Easter Ross) IPA: /ˈãũ.ɪɲ/
* (Trotternish, Raasay) IPA: /ˈã.ɪɲ/
* (Tiree, Mull) IPA: [ˈaʔʊɲ]
* (Islay) IPA: [ˈoʔʊɲ]
* (Wester Ross, Lismore) IPA: /ˈã.uɲ/, [ˈã.ʊʲɲ]

### Noun

abhainn f (genitive singular aibhne, plural aibhnichean)
* river, stream

### Mutation

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

### See also

* sruth

### References

* ↑ Oftedal, M. (1956) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. III: The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
* ↑ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937) The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
* ↑ Rev. C. M. Robertson (1902) “Skye Gaelic”, in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, Volume XXIII: 1898-99‎, Gaelic Society of Inverness, pages 54-88
* ↑ Ternes, Elmar (1973) The phonemic analysis of Scottish Gaelic: based on the dialect of Applecross, Ross-shire, Hamburg: Helmut Buske
* ↑ Roy Wentworth (2003) Gaelic Words and Phrases From Wester Ross / Faclan is Abairtean à Ros an Iar, Inverness: CLÀR, →ISBN
* ↑ Roy Wentworth (2004) Rannsachadh air Fòn-eòlas Dualchainnt Ghàidhlig Gheàrrloch, Siorrachd Rois (Thesis)‎, Aberdeen: University of Aberdeen

### Further reading

* Edward Dwelly (1911) “abhainn”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 ab”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* Cathair Ó Dochartaigh, editor (1994), Survey of the Gaelic Dialects of Scotland, volume II, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, pages 4-7