gá

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ga"

Hungarian

Alternative forms

• gigágá, gá-gá

Etymology

An onomatopoeia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡaː]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɡaː

Interjection

gá

1. honk (representation of the sound of a goose)
   • 1954, Lőrinc Szabó, Falusi hangverseny (Village concert)‎^[1], archived from the original on 19 October 2018:

     Gá! Gá! Gá! / Szalad világgá / Liba mama, ha a Csacsi / rábőg, hogy I-á!

     Honk! Honk! Honk! / Running far away / mama Goose, when the Donkey / brays at her Hee-haw!

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kauː/
• Rhymes: -auː

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Norse gá, from Proto-Germanic *ganhāną.

Verb

gá (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative gáði, supine gáð)

1. (intransitive) to look, to see, to check

Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Looks like a nominal of Etymology 1.”)

Noun

gá f (genitive singular gár, no plural)

1. care, caution

   Synonyms: aðgát, varúð

Declension

Declension of gá (sg-only feminine)

	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	gá	gáin
accusative	gá	gána
dative	gá	gánni
genitive	gár	gárinnar

Derived terms

• gálaus (“careless”)
• gáleysi (“carelessness”)

Etymology 3

Of onomatopoeic origin.

Noun

gá f (genitive singular gár, no plural)

1. bark, barking

   Synonyms: gjamm, gelt

Declension

Declension of gá (sg-only feminine)

	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	gá	gáin
accusative	gá	gána
dative	gá	gánni
genitive	gár	gárinnar

Irish

Alternative forms

• gábh, gábhadh
• gádh (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle Irish gád (“danger, need”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /ɡɑː/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ɡaː/

Noun

gá m (genitive singular gá)

1. need, requirement

   Ní gá duit imeacht.

   You don’t need to go; you don’t have to go.

   Ní gá dom glaoch orthu.

   I don’t need to call them.

Declension

Declension of gá (fourth declension, no plural)

bare forms singular nominative gá vocative a ghá genitive gá dative gá forms with the definite article singular nominative an gá genitive an ghá dative leis an ngá don ghá

Synonyms

• (need): feidhm, gátar, riachtanas

Mutation

Mutated forms of gá

radical	lenition	eclipsis
gá	ghá	ngá

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “gáḃaḋ”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 342
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “gá”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Mandarin

Alternative forms

• ga — nonstandard

Romanization

gá (ga², Zhuyin ㄍㄚˊ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 尜
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 軋 / 轧
3. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 釒 / 钅
4. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 錷
5. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 钄
6. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 噶

Old Norse

Etymology 1

Verbal noun of geyja (“to bark”).

Noun

gá f

1. barking
2. scoffing, denouncing

Declension

Declension of gá (strong ō-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	gá	gáin	gár	gárnar
accusative	gá	gána	gár	gárnar
dative	gá	gánni	gám	gánum
genitive	gár	gárinnar	gá	gánna

Derived terms

• goðgá (“blasphemy”, literally “god-scoffing”)

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “gá”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 161; also available at the Internet Archive

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *ganhāną.

Noun

gá f

1. attention

Usage notes

Often in compounds, such as úgá or gáleysi

Verb

gá (singular past indicative gáði, plural past indicative gáðu, past participle gát)

1. to heed

   (with infinitive) (about verbs)

   (about nouns) [with genitive]

   • guðs hann gáði

     he gave heed to God

   • gá sín

     to take care of oneself

   • glýja þú né gáðir

     thou hadst no mind for joy

Conjugation

Conjugation of gá — active (weak class 3)

infinitive	gá
present participle	gándi, gáandi
past participle	gáðr
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	gái	gáða		gá	gæða
2nd person singular	gáir	gáðir		gáir	gæðir
3rd person singular	gáir	gáði		gái	gæði
1st person plural	gám	gáðum		gáim	gæðim
2nd person plural	gáið	gáðuð		gáið	gæðið
3rd person plural	gá	gáðu		gái	gæði
imperative	present
2nd person singular	gá
1st person plural	gám
2nd person plural	gáið

Conjugation of gá — mediopassive (weak class 3)

infinitive	gásk
present participle	gándisk, gáandisk
past participle	gázk
	indicative			subjunctive
	present	past		present	past
1st person singular	gámk	gáðumk		gámk	gæðumk
2nd person singular	gáisk	gáðisk		gáisk	gæðisk
3rd person singular	gáisk	gáðisk		gáisk	gæðisk
1st person plural	gámsk	gáðumsk		gáimsk	gæðimsk
2nd person plural	gáizk	gáðuzk		gáizk	gæðizk
3rd person plural	gásk	gáðusk		gáisk	gæðisk
imperative	present
2nd person singular	gásk
1st person plural	gámsk
2nd person plural	gáizk

Descendants

• Icelandic: gá
• Norwegian Nynorsk: gå

Further reading

• J.Fritzners ordbok over Det gamle norske sprog, dvs. norrøn ordbok ("J.Fritnzer's dictionary of the old Norwegian language, i.e. Old Norse dictionary"), on gá.
• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “gá”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 161; also available at the Internet Archive

Vietnamese

Etymology

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 假 (SV: giả) (Baxter and Sagart, 2014: 98).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ɣaː˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ɣaː˨˩˦]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ɣaː˦˥]

Verb

gá

1. (now literary) to make someone temporarily have a shelter

   Chả biết cơn bão ấy có đi qua để cha con chúng tôi gá tạm qua ngày không ― We are longing that the storm wouldn't last long, so we can have a one-time shelter to dwell.

2. (rather dated) to lend an agent one's item for some money in exchange; to pawn

   Synonym: cầm đồ

3. (woodworking) to make something attached and aligned onto a lathe