amharc

Irish

Alternative forms

• amhanc

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈavˠəɾˠk/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /ˈafˠəɾˠk/ (as if spelled afarc)
• (Cois Fharraige, Rosmuc) IPA^(key): /ˈaːfˠɾˠək/ (as if spelled afrac)
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈãuwəɾˠk/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish amarc m (“act of looking at; faculty of sight; object of sight, view, prospect”).

Noun

amharc m (genitive singular amhairc, nominative plural amhairc)

1. verbal noun of amharc
2. sight, vision
   • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect], volume II (overall work in German), Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 1:

     tā afr̥k ə ŋar ʒō.

     [Tá amharc i ngearr dhó.]

     He is short-sighted.

3. look

   Is fearr amharc amháin romhat ná dhá amharc i do dhiaidh.

   Foresight is better than hindsight. (proverb)

   (literally, “One look before you is better than two looks behind you.”)

4. sight (a great deal, a lot)

Declension

Declension of amharc (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative amharc amhairc vocative a amhairc a amharca genitive amhairc amharc dative amharc amhairc forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an t-amharc na hamhairc genitive an amhairc na n-amharc dative leis an amharc don amharc leis na hamhairc

Derived terms

• amharc an lae m (“dawn”)
• amharc déshúileach m (“binocular vision”)
• amharc dúbailte m (“double vision”)
• amharc mara m (“seascape”)
• amharc na súl m (“eyesight”)
• amharc tíre m (“landscape”)
• amharcach (“sightly, pleasing to behold”)
• amharclann f (“theatre”)
• ar amharc (“in sight”)
• as amharc (“out of sight”)
• cianamharc m (“distant view”)
• claonamharc m (“sidelong look; squint”)
• gar-amharc m (“close-up view”)
• in amharc súl (“in appearance”)
• téigh as amharc (“disappear”, verb)

Etymology 2

From Old Irish amarcaid (“sees, beholds, views”, verb), from amarc (see above).

Verb

amharc (present analytic amharcann, future analytic amharcfaidh, verbal noun amharc, past participle amharctha)

1. (transitive, intransitive) look, see

   Bhí sé ag amharc amach as an bhfuinneog nuair a bhí mise ag dul thart.

   He was looking out the window when I went past.

Conjugation

conjugation of amharc (first conjugation – B)

		singular			plural			relative	autonomous
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	present	amharcaim	amharcann tú; amharcair†	amharcann sé, sí	amharcaimid	amharcann sibh	amharcann siad; amharcaid†	a amharcann; a amharcas / a n-amharcann*	amharctar
	past	d'amharc mé; d'amharcas / amharc mé‡; amharcas‡	d'amharc tú; d'amharcais / amharc tú‡; amharcais‡	d'amharc sé, sí / amharc sé, sí‡	d'amharcamar; d'amharc muid / amharcamar‡; amharc muid‡	d'amharc sibh; d'amharcabhair / amharc sibh‡; amharcabhair‡	d'amharc siad; d'amharcadar / amharc siad; amharcadar‡	a d'amharc / ar amharc*	amharcadh; hamharcadh†
	past habitual	d'amharcainn / amharcainn‡; n-amharcainn‡‡	d'amharctá / amharctá‡; n-amharctᇇ	d'amharcadh sé, sí / amharcadh sé, sí‡; n-amharcadh sé, s퇇	d'amharcaimis; d'amharcadh muid / amharcaimis‡; amharcadh muid‡; n-amharcaimis‡‡; n-amharcadh muid‡‡	d'amharcadh sibh / amharcadh sibh‡; n-amharcadh sibh‡‡	d'amharcaidís; d'amharcadh siad / amharcaidís‡; amharcadh siad‡; n-amharcaidís‡‡; n-amharcadh siad‡‡	a d'amharcadh / a n-amharcadh*	d'amharctaí / amharctaí‡; n-amharcta퇇
future		amharcfaidh mé; amharcfad	amharcfaidh tú; amharcfair†	amharcfaidh sé, sí	amharcfaimid; amharcfaidh muid	amharcfaidh sibh	amharcfaidh siad; amharcfaid†	a amharcfaidh; a amharcfas / a n-amharcfaidh*	amharcfar
conditional		d'amharcfainn / amharcfainn‡; n-amharcfainn‡‡	d'amharcfá / amharcfá‡; n-amharcfᇇ	d'amharcfadh sé, sí / amharcfadh sé, sí‡; n-amharcfadh sé, s퇇	d'amharcfaimis; d'amharcfadh muid / amharcfaimis‡; amharcfadh muid‡; n-amharcfaimis‡‡; n-amharcfadh muid‡‡	d'amharcfadh sibh / amharcfadh sibh‡; n-amharcfadh sibh‡‡	d'amharcfaidís; d'amharcfadh siad / amharcfaidís‡; amharcfadh siad‡; n-amharcfaidís‡‡; n-amharcfadh siad‡‡	a d'amharcfadh / a n-amharcfadh*	d'amharcfaí / amharcfaí‡; n-amharcfa퇇
subjunctive	present	go n-amharca mé; go n-amharcad†	go n-amharca tú; go n-amharcair†	go n-amharca sé, sí	go n-amharcaimid; go n-amharca muid	go n-amharca sibh	go n-amharca siad; go n-amharcaid†	—	go n-amharctar
	past	dá n-amharcainn	dá n-amharctá	dá n-amharcadh sé, sí	dá n-amharcaimis; dá n-amharcadh muid	dá n-amharcadh sibh	dá n-amharcaidís; dá n-amharcadh siad	—	dá n-amharctaí
imperative		amharcaim	amharc	amharcadh sé, sí	amharcaimis	amharcaigí; amharcaidh†	amharcaidís	—	amharctar
verbal noun		amharc
past participle		amharctha

*indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form
‡ dependent form
‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis (except an)

Derived terms

• amharcaíl f (“(act of) peering; groping”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of amharc

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
amharc	n-amharc	hamharc	t-amharc

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) “amharc”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “aṁarc”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 25

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish amarc m (“act of looking at; faculty of sight; object of sight, view, prospect”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈãũ.əɾk/
• (Lewis) IPA^(key): /ˈãvəɾk/

Noun

amharc m (genitive singular amhairc, plural amhairc)

1. verbal noun of amhairc
2. seeing, viewing
3. sight, view
4. vizzy or sight on a gun
5. view, sight, observation
6. beholding
7. inspecting
8. look, appearance
9. fault

Synonyms

• sealladh

Derived terms

• amharc-lann
• dian-amharc

References

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “amharc”, 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), “1 amarc”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language