# beatha
## Irish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbʲahə/
* (Aran) IPA: /ˈbʲahə/, /ˈbʲæhə/, /ˈbʲaː/

### Etymology 1

From Middle Irish betha, from Old Irish bethu, from Proto-Celtic *biwotūts (compare Welsh bywyd), from *biwos from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (“alive”) (compare Latin vīta, Ancient Greek βίοτος (bíotos), Old Church Slavonic животъ (životŭ, “life”), Lithuanian gyvatà (“life”), Sanskrit जीवित (jīvitá), Avestan 𐬔𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬊 (gaiio, “life”) (accusative 𐬘𐬌𐬌𐬁𐬙𐬎𐬨 (jiiātum))), from *gʷeyh₃-w- (“to live”).

#### Noun

beatha f (genitive singular beatha or beathadh, nominative plural beathaí)
* life; biography
* living, livelihood
* food, sustenance
    Synonym: bia

##### Declension
###### Standard inflection (fourth declension)

bare forms
case
singular
plural
nominative
beatha
beathaí
vocative
a bheatha
a bheathaí
genitive
beatha
beathaí
dative
beatha
beathaí
forms with the definite article
case
singular
plural
nominative
an bheatha
na beathaí
genitive
na beatha
na mbeathaí
dative
leis an mbeatha don bheatha
leis na beathaí :

###### Alternative inflection (fifth declension)

bare forms
case
singular
plural
nominative
beatha
beathaí
vocative
a bheatha
a bheathaí
genitive
beathadh
beathaí
dative
beatha beathaidh (archaic, dialectal)
beathaí
forms with the definite article
case
singular
plural
nominative
an bheatha
na beathaí
genitive
na beathadh
na mbeathaí
dative
leis an mbeatha leis an mbeathaidh (archaic, dialectal) don bheatha don bheathaidh (archaic, dialectal)
leis na beathaí :

##### Derived terms

* antaibheathach
* beathachruth
* beathaigh
* beathaisnéis
* beathúil
* beathuisce
* bith- (“ever”)
* Dé do bheatha
* dea-bheatha
* débheathach
* frithbheathach
* is é do bheatha
* uisce beatha

##### Related terms

* beo (“alive”)

#### References

* ↑ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 37
* ↑ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 43

#### Further reading

* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “beatha”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “betha”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “beaṫa”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 63
* de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “beatha”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
* “beatha”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025
* Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 50

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Noun

beatha m sg
* genitive singular of bith

### Mutation

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

## Scottish Gaelic
### Etymology

From Middle Irish betha, from Old Irish bethu, from Proto-Celtic *biwotūts, from *biwos from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (“alive”), from *gʷeih₃w- (“to live”).

### Pronunciation

* (Lewis) IPA: /b̥ɛh/
* (Harris, Uist) IPA: /ˈb̥ɛhə/
* (Barra) IPA: [ˈb̥æhʌ]

### Noun

beatha f (genitive singular beatha, plural beathannan)
* life

#### Declension

Forms without/with the definite article:
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | beatha/a' bheatha | beathannan/na beathannan |
| Genitive | beatha/na beatha | bheatha/nam beatha |
| Dative | beatha/a' bheatha | na beathannan/na beathannan |

#### Derived terms

* 's e do bheatha, ur beatha
* beath-eachdraidh, eachdraidh-beatha
* beathach
* dà-bheathach
* dòigh-beatha
* fiadh-bheatha
* uisge-beatha

### Mutation

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

### References

* ↑ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “betha”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* ↑ 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
* ↑ John MacPherson (1945) The Gaelic dialect of North Uist (Thesis)‎, Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh
* ↑ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937) The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap

### Further reading

* Edward Dwelly (1911) “beatha”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN