cainnt

Irish

Noun

cainnt f (genitive singular cainnte, nominative plural cainnteanna)

1. Superseded spelling of caint.

Mutation

Mutated forms of cainnt

radical	lenition	eclipsis
cainnt	chainnt	gcainnt

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

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kan͈ʲtʲ/

Noun

cainnt f

1. verbal noun of canaid
   1. act of speaking
2. speech, talk, conversation

Descendants

• Irish: caint
• Manx: caaynt
• Scottish Gaelic: cainnt

Mutation

Mutation of cainnt

radical	lenition	nasalization
cainnt	chainnt	cainnt pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/

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

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cainnt”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish cainnt (“act of speaking; speech, talk, conversation”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʰaiɲtʰʲ/

Noun

cainnt f (genitive singular cainnte, plural cainntean)

1. speech, language
2. discourse, conversation
3. language, tongue

Declension

Declension of cainnt (class IIb feminine noun)

indefinite
	singular	plural
nominative	cainnt	cainntean
genitive	cainnte	chainntean
dative	cainnt	cainntean; cainntibh✝
definite
	singular	plural
nominative	(a') chainnt	(na) cainntean
genitive	(na) cainnte	(nan) cainntean
dative	(a') chainnt	(na) cainntean; cainntibh✝
vocative	chainnt	chainntean

^✝ obsolete form, used until the 19th century

Synonyms

• (language): cànan

Derived terms

• cainnt-chluich (“pun”)
• cainnt-sanais (“sign language”)
• gnàthas-cainnt (“idiom”)
• saorsa cainnte (“freedom of speech”)

References

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