balbhán

See also: balbhan

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish *balbán (compare Scottish Gaelic balbhan), synchronically balbh (“dumb, mute; inarticulate; dull; silent”) +‎ -án.

Pronunciation

• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈbˠɔlˠəwanˠ/, /ˈbˠɔl̪ˠəwan̪ˠ/ (as if spelled bolbhán)

Noun

balbhán m (genitive singular balbháin, nominative plural balbháin)

1. dumb person, mute
2. silent person
3. stammerer
4. (card games) dummy

Declension

Declension of balbhán (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative balbhán balbháin vocative a bhalbháin a bhalbhána genitive balbháin balbhán dative balbhán balbháin forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an balbhán na balbháin genitive an bhalbháin na mbalbhán dative leis an mbalbhán don bhalbhán leis na balbháin

Derived terms

• balbhán béice m (“puffball”)

Related terms

• balbhántaíocht f (“dumbness, muteness; stammering”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of balbhán

radical	lenition	eclipsis
balbhán	bhalbhán	mbalbhán

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) “balbhán”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “balbán”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language