bachlach

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Kerry) IPA^(key): /ˈbˠɑhəl̪ˠəx/

Etymology 1

Adjective

bachlach (genitive singular masculine bachlaigh, genitive singular feminine bachlaí, plural bachlacha)

1. Alternative form of bachallach (“curly, ringleted”)
   • 1939, Peig Sayers, “Inghean an Cheannaidhe”, in Marie-Louise Sjoestedt, Description d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études; 270) (overall work in French), Paris: Librairie Honoré Champion, page 197:

     Do bhí a ceann bachlach bán beárrtha aici, agus culath duine uasail uirthi; budh dhóigh leat gur fear í insan am san.

     She had shaved her curly blonde head and put on a gentleman’s suit; you would have thought she was a man at that time.

Inflection

Declension of bachlach

	Singular		Plural (m/f)
Positive	Masculine	Feminine	(strong noun)	(weak noun)
Nominative	bachlach	bhachlach	bachlacha; bhachlacha²
Vocative	bhachlaigh		bachlacha
Genitive		bachlaí	bachlacha	bachlach
Dative	bachlach; bhachlach¹	bhachlach; bhachlaigh (archaic)	bachlacha; bhachlacha²
Comparative	níos bachlaí
Superlative	is bachlaí

¹ When the preceding noun is lenited and governed by the definite article.
² When the preceding noun ends in a slender consonant.

Etymology 2

Noun

bachlach m (genitive singular bachlaigh, nominative plural bachlaigh)

1. Alternative form of bathlach (“clumsy person; dilapidated building”)

Declension

Declension of bachlach

First declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative bachlach bachlaigh Vocative a bhachlaigh a bhachlacha Genitive bachlaigh bachlach Dative bachlach bachlaigh

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an bachlach na bachlaigh Genitive an bhachlaigh na mbachlach Dative leis an mbachlach don bhachlach leis na bachlaigh

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
bachlach	bhachlach	mbachlach
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Middle Irish

Etymology

From bachall +‎ -ach.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaxlax/, /ˈbaxləx/

Noun

bachlach m

1. labourer, serf, bondman
2. clown, churl

Derived terms

• bachlachda
• bachlachus

 

Descendants

• Irish: bathlach
• Scottish Gaelic: balach

Mutation

Middle Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
bachlach	bachlach pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/	mbachlach
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), “1 bachlach”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language