fáth

See also: fath, Fath, and fəth

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish fáth, from Proto-Celtic *wātus (“inspired utterance”) (compare Welsh gwawd (“song, praise, poetry”)), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂t-.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /fˠɑːh/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /fˠɑː/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /fˠaː/

Noun

fáth m (genitive singular fátha, nominative plural fáthanna)

1. cause
2. reason

   Níl fáth agam le fanacht.

   I have no reason to stay.

Declension

Declension of fáth (third declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative fáth fáthanna vocative a fháth a fháthanna genitive fátha fáthanna dative fáth fáthanna forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an fáth na fáthanna genitive an fhátha na bhfáthanna dative leis an bhfáth don fháth leis na fáthanna

Synonyms

• ábhar
• bunúdar
• cúis
• údar

Derived terms

• cén fáth

Mutation

Mutated forms of fáth

radical	lenition	eclipsis
fáth	fháth	bhfáth

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) “fáth”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *wātus (“inspired utterance”) (compare Welsh gwawd (“song, praise, poetry”)), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂t-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɸaːθ]

Noun

fáth m

1. cause, reason
2. motive, object
3. subject, matter
4. prophecy
5. composition, maxim

Inflection

Masculine u-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	fáth	fáthL	fáthae
Vocative	fáth	fáthL	fáthu
Accusative	fáthN	fáthL	fáthu
Genitive	fáthoH, fáthaH	fátho, fátha	fáthaeN
Dative	fáthL	fáthaib	fáthaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• fáthach
• fáthaige
• fáthamail

Descendants

• Irish: fáth
• Manx: fa
• Scottish Gaelic: fàth

Mutation

Mutation of fáth

radical	lenition	nasalization
fáth	ḟáth	fáth pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/

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