ciúnas

Irish

Alternative forms

• ciúineadas, ciúineas, ciúntas

Etymology

From Middle Irish ciúnas. By surface analysis, ciúin (“calm, silent, still”, adjective) +‎ -as).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈcuːnˠəsˠ/

Noun

ciúnas m (genitive singular ciúnais)

1. calmness; stillness, quiet, silence

Declension

Declension of ciúnas

First declension

Bare forms (no plural of this noun) Case Singular Nominative ciúnas Vocative a chiúnais Genitive ciúnais Dative ciúnas

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Nominative an ciúnas Genitive an chiúnais Dative leis an gciúnas don chiúnas

Derived terms

• an ciúnas roimh an doineann (“the hush before the storm”)
• ciúnas critheaglach (“a breathless silence”)
• ciúnas domhain (“heavy silence”)
• ciúnas na huaighe (“dead silence”)
• ciúnas tuarúil (“an ominous silence”)
• le cóir is le ciúnas! (“by and large!”)

 

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
ciúnas	chiúnas	gciúnas
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ciúnas”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ciúnas”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “ciúnas”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “ciúnas”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

Middle Irish

Etymology

From ciúin +‎ -as.

Pronunciation

• (earlier) IPA^(key): /ˈkʲiːu̯nəs/
• (later) IPA^(key): /ˈkʲuːnəs/

Noun

ciúnas m (genitive ciúnais, no plural)

1. calmness, quiet
2. repose

Descendants

• Irish: ciúnas
• Manx: kiunys
• Scottish Gaelic: ciùineas

Mutation

Middle Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
ciúnas	chiúnas	ciúnas 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), “ciúnas”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language