faoi

See also: Faoi

Irish

Alternative forms

• fá (Ulster)
• fé (Munster)
• fó (dialectal)

Etymology

From Old Irish fo, from Proto-Celtic *uɸo, from Proto-Indo-European *upo. Compare Ancient Greek ὑπό (hupó), Middle Welsh go.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fˠiː/

Preposition

faoi (plus dative, triggers lenition)

1. (standard, Connacht, Ulster) under
   • 2015, Proinsias Mac a' Bhaird, transl.; Maura McHugh, editor, Amhrán na Mara (fiction, paperback), Kilkenny, County Kilkenny; Howth, Dublin: Cartoon Saloon; Coiscéim, translation of Song of the Sea by Will Collins, →ISBN, page 1:

     Thuas i dteach an tsolais, faoi réaltaí geala, canann Bronach Amhrán na Mara dá mac Ben atá cúig bliana d'aois.

     Up in the lighthouse, under twinkling stars, Bronach sings the Song of the Sea to her five-year-old son, Ben.

2. (standard, Connacht) about, concerning

Usage notes

• The standard Irish and Connacht form faoi (Munster fé) means both ‘under’ and ‘about, concerning’. In Ulster, these two meanings are split: faoi means ‘under’, while fá means ‘about, concerning’.

Inflection

Inflection of faoi

Person	Normal	Emphatic
1st person sing.	fúm	fúmsa
2d person sing.	fút	fútsa
3d sing. masc.	faoi	faoisean
3d sing. fem.	fúithi	fúithise
1st person pl.	fúinn	fúinne
2d person pl.	fúibh	fúibhse
3d person pl.	fúthu	fúthusan

Derived terms

• faoi choinne (“intended for”)
• faoi chosc (“forbidden”)
• faoi iamh (“enclosed, secured, attached”)

 

Irish preposition contractions

Basic form	Contracted with							Copular forms
	an (“the sg”)	na (“the pl”)	mo (“my”)	do (“your”)	a (“his, her, their; which (present)”)	ár (“our”)	ar (“which (past)”)	(before consonant)	(present/future before vowel)	(past/conditional before vowel)
de (“from”)	den	de na desna*	de mo dem*	de do ded*, det*	dá	dár		dar	darb	darbh
do (“to, for”)	don	do na dosna*	do mo dom*	do do dod*, dot*	dá	dár		dar	darb	darbh
faoi (“under, about”)	faoin	faoi na	faoi mo	faoi do	faoina	faoinár	faoinar		faoinarb	faoinarbh
fara (“along with, beside”)	fairis an	fairis na	fara mo	fara do	farana	faranár	faranar		faranarb	faranarbh
i (“in”)	sa, san	sna	i mo im*	i do id*, it*	ina	inár	inar		inarb	inarbh
le (“with”)	leis an	leis na	le mo lem*	le do led*, let*	lena	lenár	lenar		lenarb	lenarbh
ó (“from, since”)	ón	ó na ósna*	ó mo óm*	ó do ód*, ót*	óna	ónár	ónar		ónarb	ónarbh
trí (“through”)	tríd an	trí na	trí mo	trí do	trína	trínár	trínar		trínarb	trínarbh
*Dialectal.

Pronoun

faoi (emphatic faoisean)

1. third-person singular masculine of faoi

References

• "faoi" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “fo, fa, fá”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language