Irish

Alternative forms

• abha
• abhann

Noun

abhainn f ‎(genitive singular abhann or aibhne, nominative plural aibhneacha or aibhne)

1. 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

Nonstandard

• Variant genitive singular: abhna
• Variant plural forms: abhanta, aibhnte, aibhnteacha

Mutation

References

• "abhainn" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• “aḃa” in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, Irish Texts Society, 1927, by Patrick S. Dinneen.
• E. C. Quiggin, A Dialect of Donegal, page 18, § 40.
• “1 ab” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

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.

Noun

abhainn f ‎(genitive singular aibhne, plural aibhnichean)

1. river, stream

See also

• sruth

References

• Faclair Gàidhlig Dwelly Air Loidhne, Dwelly, Edward (1911), Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary (10th ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, ISBN 0 901771 92 9
• “1 ab” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.