cearc

Irish

cearc

Etymology

From Old Irish cerc, from Proto-Celtic *kerkā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /caɾˠk/
• (Cois Fharraige) IPA^(key): /cæːɾˠk/

Noun

cearc f (genitive singular circe, nominative plural cearca)

1. chicken, hen

Declension

Declension of cearc (second declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative cearc cearca vocative a chearc a chearca genitive circe cearc dative cearc circ (archaic, dialectal) cearca forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an chearc na cearca genitive na circe na gcearc dative leis an gcearc leis an gcirc (archaic, dialectal) don chearc don chirc (archaic, dialectal) leis na cearca

Derived terms

• circín (diminutive)
• cró cearc (“henhouse”)
• cromán na gcearc (“hen-harrier”)
• gearrchearc (“bantam”)

 

Mutation

Mutated forms of cearc

radical	lenition	eclipsis
cearc	chearc	gcearc

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

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “cearc”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 128
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “cearc”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “cearc”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “cearc”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish cerc, from Proto-Celtic *kerkā.

Pronunciation

• (Lewis, Harris) IPA^(key): /kʲʰɛɾk/, [kʲʰæɾ̥k]
• (Uist, Barra, Skye) IPA^(key): /kʲʰɛɾxk/, [kʲʰæɾ̥xk]

Noun

cearc f (dative singular cearc or circ, genitive singular circe, plural cearcan)

1. hen
2. chicken

Derived terms

• cearc-Fhrangach (“turkey-hen”)
• cearc-ghur (“broody”)
• cearc Innseanach (“female guinea fowl”)
• clamhan-nan-cearc (“hen harrier”)

Mutation

Mutation of cearc

radical	lenition
cearc	chearc

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

Further reading

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