faílenn

Middle Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish foílenn, from Proto-Celtic *wailannā (“seagull”). Cognate with Cornish guilan, Welsh gwylan, Breton gouelan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (earlier) /ˈɸɤːlʲən͈/, (later) /ˈɸɯːlʲən͈/

Noun

faílenn m or f

1. seagull

Descendants

• Irish: faoileán, faoileog
• Manx: foillan, foilleig, fooilleig
• Scottish Gaelic: faoileann, faoileag

Mutation

Middle Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
faílenn	ḟaílenn	faílenn pronounced with /β(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), “faílenn, foílenn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language