abair

See also: Abair

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish at·beir, from Old Irish as·beir, from Proto-Celtic *exs- (compare Latin ex) + *bereti, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-.

See rá for the etymology of the verbal noun and past participle.

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Aran) IPA^(key): /ˈɑbˠəɾʲ/
• (Connemara, Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈabˠəɾʲ/

Verb

abair (present analytic deir, future analytic déarfaidh, verbal noun rá, past participle ráite)

1. say, utter

   amhrán a rá ― to sing a song

2. mean, refer to

   Ní tú a deirim. ― I don’t mean you; I’m not referring to you.

3. (In the 2nd sing. imperative or 1st plural imperative) say, suppose (to state for illustrative or approximate purposes)

   abair is nach mbeadh sé ann ― supposing he weren’t there

   fiche punt, abair ― twenty pounds, say

Conjugation

The d-initial forms of this verb are immune to lenition in the standard language. They do, however, undergo eclipsis.

In at least some parts of Ulster, the initial d is deleted after ní, níor: níor úirt mé ― I did not say

conjugation of abair (irregular)

		singular			plural			relative	autonomous
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	present	deirim	deir tú; deireann tú; deirir†	deir sé, sí; deireann sé, sí	deirimid; deir muid; deireann muid	deir sibh; deireann sibh	deir siad; deireann siad; deirid†	a deir; a deireas; a deireann / a ndeir*; a ndeireas*; a ndeireann*	deirtear
	past	dúirt mé; dúras; dúrt	dúirt tú; dúrais	dúirt sé, sí	dúramar; dúirt muid	dúirt sibh; dúrabhair	dúirt siad; dúradar	a dúirt / a ndúirt*	dúradh
	past habitual	deirinn	deirteá	deireadh sé, sí	deirimis; deireadh muid	deireadh sibh	deiridís; deireadh siad	a deireadh / a ndeireadh*	deirtí
future		déarfaidh mé; déarfad	déarfaidh tú; déarfair†	déarfaidh sé, sí	déarfaimid; déarfaidh muid	déarfaidh sibh	déarfaidh siad; déarfaid†	a déarfaidh; a déarfas / a ndéarfaidh*; a ndéarfas*	déarfar
conditional		déarfainn	déarfá	déarfadh sé, sí	déarfaimis; déarfadh muid	déarfadh sibh	déarfaidís; déarfadh siad	a déarfadh / a ndéarfadh*	déarfaí
subjunctive	present	go ndeire mé; go ndeiread†	go ndeire tú; go ndeirir†	go ndeire sé, sí	go ndeirimid; go ndeire muid	go ndeire sibh	go ndeire siad; go ndeirid†	—	go ndeirtear
	past	dá ndeirinn	dá ndeirteá	dá ndeireadh sé, sí	dá ndeirimis; dá ndeireadh muid	dá ndeireadh sibh	dá ndeiridís; dá ndeireadh siad	—	dá ndeirtí
imperative		abraim	abair	abradh sé, sí	abraimis	abraigí; abraidh†	abraidís	—	abairtear
verbal noun		rá
past participle		ráite

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form

in older literary language, and sometimes in spoken language, additional forms built on the stem abr- are found:

		singular			plural			relative	autonomous
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	present dependent	abraim	abrann tú; abrair	abrann sé, sí	abraimid; abrann muid	abrann sibh	abrann siad; abraid	a n-abrann*; a n-abras*	abarthar
	past habitual dependent	abrainn	abartá	abradh sé, sí	abraimis; abradh muid	abradh sibh	abraidís; abradh siad	a n-abradh*	abartaí
future dependent		abróidh mé; abród; abróchaidh mé	abróidh tú; abróir; abróchaidh tú	abróidh sé, sí; abróchaidh sé, sí	abróimid; abróidh muid; abróchaimid; abróchaidh muid	abróidh sibh; abróchaidh sibh	abróidh siad; abróid; abróchaidh siad	a n-abróidh*; a n-abrós*; a n-abróchaidh*; a n-abróchas*	abrófar; abróchar
conditional dependent		abróinn; abróchainn	abrófá; abróchthá	abródh sé, sí; abróchadh sé, sí	abróimis; abródh muid; abróchaimis; abróchadh muid	abródh sibh; abróchadh sibh	abróidís; abródh siad; abróchadh siad	a n-abródh*; a n-abróchadh*	abrófaí; abróchaí
subjunctive	present	go n-abra mé; go n-abrad	go n-abra tú; go n-abrair	go n-abra sé, sí	go n-abraimid; go n-abra muid	go n-abra sibh	go n-abra siad; go n-abraid	—	go n-abarthar
	past	dá n-abrainn	dá n-abartá	dá n-abradh sé, sí	dá n-abraimis; dá n-abradh muid	dá n-abradh sibh	dá n-abraidís; dá n-abradh siad	—	dá n-abartaí

Synonyms

• inis
• labhair

Derived terms

• abair le (“say to, tell, inform”)
• ná habair é (“don’t mention it”)
• abartha (“given to repartee”, adjective)
• gearr-abartha (“laconic, curt”, adjective)

Mutation

Mutated forms of abair

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
abair	n-abair	habair	not applicable

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

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “abair”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “adeirim”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 6
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “abair”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “abair”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish at·beir, from Old Irish as·beir, from Proto-Celtic *exs- (compare Latin ex) + Proto-Celtic *bereti, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-.

The verbal noun is from Old Irish rád (compare Irish rá), from the verb ráidid (“talks”), from Proto-Celtic *rādīti, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₁dʰ- (“perform successfully”). Cognate with Sanskrit राध्नोति (rādhnoti, “succeeds”), Old Church Slavonic радити (raditi, “take care of, work”), Gothic 𐍂𐍉𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (rōdjan, “talk”), Lithuanian rodýti (“show”). The past participle is from the same stem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈapɪɾʲ/
• (Lewis, Uist) IPA^(key): [ˈapɪð]

Adverb

abair

1. Used as a modifier, suggesting excitement, much in the way that "how" is used.

   Abair oillteil! ― How dreadful!

   Abair gur àlainn e an-diugh! ― How beautiful it is today!

Verb

abair (past thuirt, future their, verbal noun ràdh, past participle ràite)

1. say

   Abair ach beag is abair gu math e. ― Say little, but say it well.

   Na h-abair diug a choidhche ris an eun gus an dig e às an ugh. ― Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.

2. call [with ri]

   Shreap mi suas an cnoc ris an abair iad "An Sìthean Beag" ― I walked up the hill which they call "the little fairy mound" (literally, “the hill to which they say…”)

Usage notes

• In most dialects of Scottish Gaelic still spoken, with the notable exception of Islay, the future and conditional tenses and the imperative form of can are almost always used in place of the actual abair forms in colloquial language; the abair forms are recognised but considered Biblical or excessively formal. Some northern dialects, such as Skye and Lewis, extend this to verbal noun forms derived from can, such as cantainn and canail.
• While ràdh is the most common verbal noun form, many others are used: gràdh, ràdha, gràdha, ràdhainn, gràdhainn, ràdhtainn, ràit, and ràitinn.

Inflection

Conjugation of abair (irregular)

			singular			plural			impersonal
			first	second	third m/f	first	second	third
independent	past	simple	thuirt mi	thuirt thu	thuirt e/i	thuirt sinn	thuirt sibh	thuirt iad	thuirteadh
		emphatic	thubhairt mi	thubhairt thu	thubhairt e/i	thubhairt sinn	thubhairt sibh	thubhairt iad	thubhairteadh
	future		their mi canaidh mi	their thu canaidh tu	their e/i canaidh e/i	their sinn canaidh sinn	their sibh canaidh sibh	their iad canaidh iad	theirear canar
	conditional		theirinn chanainn	theireadh tu chanadh tu	theireadh e/i chanadh e/i	theireadh sinn theireamaid chanadh sinn chanamaid	theireadh sibh chanadh sibh	theireadh iad chanadh iad	theirte(adh) theirist(e)1 chante(adh) chanaist(e)1
negative	past	simple	cha tuirt mi	cha tuirt thu	cha tuirt e/i	cha tuirt sinn	cha tuirt sibh	cha tuirt iad	cha tuirteadh
		emphatic	cha tubhairt mi	cha tubhairt thu	cha tubhairt e/i	cha tubhairt sinn	cha tubhairt sibh	cha tubhairt iad	cha tubhairteadh
	future		chan abair mi cha chan mi	chan abair thu cha chan thu	chan abair e/i cha chan e/i	chan abair sinn cha chan sinn	chan abair sibh cha chan sibh	chan abair iad cha chan iad	chan abrar cha chanar
	conditional		chan abrainn cha chanainn	chan abradh tu cha chanadh tu	chan abradh e/i cha chanadh e/i	chan abradh sinn chan abramaid cha chanadh sinn cha chanamaid	chan abradh sibh cha chanadh sibh	chan abradh iad cha chanadh iad	chan abairte(adh) chan abairist(e)1 cha chante(adh) cha chanaist(e)1
affirmative interrogative	past	simple	an tuirt mi?	an tuirt thu?	an tuirt e/i?	an tuirt sinn?	an tuirt sibh?	an tuirt iad?	an tuirteadh?
		emphatic	an tubhairt mi?	an tubhairt thu?	an tubhairt e/i?	an tubhairt sinn?	an tubhairt sibh?	an tubhairt iad?	an tubhairteadh?
	future		an abair mi? an can mi?	an abair thu? an can thu?	an abair e/i? an can e/i?	an abair sinn? an can sinn?	an abair sibh? an can sibh?	an abair iad? an can iad?	an abrar? an canar?
	conditional		an abrainn? an canainn?	an abradh tu? an canadh tu?	an abradh e/i? an canadh e/i?	an abradh sinn? an abramaid? an canadh sinn? an canamaid?	an abradh sibh? an canadh sibh?	an abradh iad? an canadh iad?	an abairte(adh)? an abairist(e)?1 an cante(adh)? an canaist(e)?1
negative interrogative	past	simple	nach tuirt mi?	nach tuirt thu?	nach tuirt e/i?	nach tuirt sinn?	nach tuirt sibh?	nach tuirt iad?	nach tuirteadh?
		emphatic	nach tubhairt mi?	nach tubhairt thu?	nach tubhairt e/i?	nach tubhairt sinn?	nach tubhairt sibh?	nach tubhairt iad?	nach tubhairteadh?
	future		nach abair mi? nach can mi?	nach abair thu? nach can thu?	nach abair e/i? nach can e/i?	nach abair sinn? nach can sinn?	nach abair sibh? nach can sibh?	nach abair iad? nach can iad?	nach abrar? nach canar?
	conditional		nach abrainn? nach canainn?	nach abradh tu? nach canadh tu?	nach abradh e/i? nach canadh e/i?	nach abradh sinn? nach abramaid? nach canadh sinn? nach canamaid?	nach abradh sibh? nach canadh sibh?	nach abradh iad? nach canadh iad?	nach abairte(adh)? nach abairist(e)?1 nach cante(adh)? nach canaist(e)?1
relative future			(a) their mi (a) chanas mi	(a) their thu (a) chanas tu	(a) their e/i (a) chanas e/i	(a) their sinn (a) chanas sinn	(a) their sibh (a) chanas sibh	(a) their iad (a) chanas iad	(a) theirear (a) chanar
imperative			abram! canam!	abair! can!	abradh e/i! canadh e/i!	abramaid! canamaid!	abraibh! canaibh!	abradh iad! canadh iad!	abrar! canar!
verbal noun			ràdh
past participle			ràite, cante

¹ Lewis dialect form
Forms of the verb can are more often used in place of abair, particularly colloquial language, in the tenses where they are listed in italics here. The imperative form is common colloquially but with another different meaning entirely. Abair forms are more typical of high registers of the language, particularly ecclesiastical language, and some southern dialects which are now rarely spoken.

Derived terms

• air dhomh/dhuinn sin a ràdh

Further reading

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “abair”, 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), “as-beir”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language