áth

See also: ath, ath-, and àth

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish áth m (“ford”), from Proto-Celtic *yātus (“ford”), from Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂- (“ride, go”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /ɑː/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ãː/

Noun

áth m (genitive singular átha, nominative plural áthanna)

1. (geography) ford
2. spawning bed (in river)
3. opening

Declension

Declension of áth

Third declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative áth áthanna Vocative a áth a áthanna Genitive átha áthanna Dative áth áthanna

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an t-áth na háthanna Genitive an átha na n-áthanna Dative leis an áth don áth leis na háthanna

Derived terms

• Baile Átha Cliath
• Baile Átha Luain
• Droichead Átha

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
áth	n-áth	háth	t-áth
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “áṫ”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 42
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “áth”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *yātus (“ford”).

Noun

áth m

1. (geography) ford (commonly as scene of battle or single combat)
2. (by extension) open space or hollow between two objects

Inflection

Masculine u-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	áth	áthL	áthae
Vocative	áth	áthL	áthu
Accusative	áthN	áthL	áthu
Genitive	áthoH, áthaH	átho, átha	áthaeN
Dative	áthL	áthaib	áthaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: áth
• Manx: aah, aae
• Scottish Gaelic: àth

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
áth (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)	unchanged	n-áth
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “áth”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language