biáil

See also: biail

Old Irish

FWOTD – 13 June 2023

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *biyatlis, from the root of *binati (whence benaid). Cognate with Welsh bwyell.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbʲi.aːlʲ]

Noun

bïáil m (genitive béla)

1. axe, hatchet
   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 112^b12

     Is déniu ad·ciam húa ṡúlib risíu ro·cloammar in fogur húa chluasaib, ut est is toísigiu ad·ciam teilciud in béla resíu ro·cloammar a guth sidi.

     We see more quickly with the eyes before we hear the sound with the ears, ut est we see the throwing of the axe sooner before we hear the sound of this.

   • c. 850-875, Turin Glosses and Scholia on St Mark, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 484–94, Tur. 106

     .i. do·cer in biail dia samthig issa mmuir 7 fo·caird Eleseus a samthig inna diad 7 do·luid in biail a rithissi ar chenn in samthige co mboi impe.

     That is, the ax-head fell from its handle into the sea and Elisha flung its handle after it and the ax-head came again to meet the handle and remained around it.

Inflection

Masculine i-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	biáil	biáilL	belaiH
Vocative	biáil	biáilL	belaiH
Accusative	biáilN	biáilL	belaiH
Genitive	beloH, belaH	beloH, belaH	belaeN
Dative	biáilL	belaib	belaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Middle Irish: bíail
  • Irish: biail

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
biáil	biáil pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/	mbiáil
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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