cainnt

Irish

Noun

cainnt f (genitive singular cainnte, nominative plural cainnteanna)

1. Superseded spelling of caint.

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
cainnt	chainnt	gcainnt
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kan͈ʲtʲ/

Noun

cainnt f

1. verbal noun of canaid
   1. act of speaking
2. speech, talk, conversation

Descendants

• Irish: caint
• Manx: caaynt
• Scottish Gaelic: cainnt

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
cainnt	chainnt	cainnt pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/
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), “cainnt”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish cainnt (“act of speaking; speech, talk, conversation”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʰaiɲtʰʲ/

Noun

cainnt f (genitive singular cainnte, plural cainntean)

1. speech, language
2. discourse, conversation
3. language, tongue

Declension

Declension of cainnt (class IIb feminine noun)

Indefinite
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cainnt	cainntean
Genitive	cainnte	chainntean
Dative	cainnt	cainntean; cainntibh*
Definite
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	(a') chainnt	(na) cainntean
Genitive	(na) cainnte	(nan) cainntean
Dative	(a') chainnt	(na) cainntean; cainntibh*
Vocative	(a) chainnt	(a) chainntean

*obsolete form, was used until the 19th century

Synonyms

• (language): cànan

Derived terms

• cainnt-chluich (“pun”)
• cainnt-sanais (“sign language”)
• gnàthas-cainnt (“idiom”)
• saorsa cainnte (“freedom of speech”)

References

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “cainnt”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[1], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cainnt”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language