geall

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ɟaul̪ˠ/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /ɟaːl̪ˠ/
• (Cois Fharraige) IPA^(key): /ɟɑːl̪ˠ/
• (Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /ɟal̪ˠ/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish gell (“pledge, surety”).

Noun

geall m (genitive singular gill, nominative plural geallta)

1. pledge, pawn, token
2. bet, wager
   • 1906, E.C. Quiggin, A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 74:

     bʹjuw gʹαL gə mʹɛ ʃə əNsə welʹə rĩv ə Nĩ:çə

     Bíodh geall go mbeidh sé insa bhaile roimh an oíche (conventional orthography)

     I bet you he will be home before night.

     (literally, “Let there be a bet that…”)

3. asset, resource
4. prize

Declension

Declension of geall (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative geall geallta vocative a ghill a gheallta genitive gill geallta dative geall geallta forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an geall na geallta genitive an ghill na ngeallta dative leis an ngeall don gheall leis na geallta

Derived terms

• geall le, i ngeall le (“dependent on; equal, equivalent, to; all but, almost”)
• de gheall ar (“for the sake of; disposed to, intending to”)
• i ngeall ar, mar gheall ar (“on account of; concerning”)

Etymology 2

From Old Irish gellaid (“to pledge”), from gell (“pledge, surety”).

Verb

geall (present analytic geallann, future analytic geallfaidh, verbal noun gealladh, past participle geallta) (transitive, intransitive)

1. promise, assure
2. allot (to)

Conjugation

conjugation of geall (first conjugation – A)

		singular			plural			relative	autonomous
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	present	geallaim	geallann tú; geallair†	geallann sé, sí	geallaimid	geallann sibh	geallann siad; geallaid†	a gheallann; a gheallas / a ngeallann*	gealltar
	past	gheall mé; gheallas	gheall tú; gheallais	gheall sé, sí	gheallamar; gheall muid	gheall sibh; gheallabhair	gheall siad; ghealladar	a gheall / ar gheall*	gealladh
	past habitual	gheallainn / ngeallainn‡‡	ghealltá / ngealltᇇ	ghealladh sé, sí / ngealladh sé, s퇇	gheallaimis; ghealladh muid / ngeallaimis‡‡; ngealladh muid‡‡	ghealladh sibh / ngealladh sibh‡‡	gheallaidís; ghealladh siad / ngeallaidís‡‡; ngealladh siad‡‡	a ghealladh / a ngealladh*	ghealltaí / ngeallta퇇
future		geallfaidh mé; geallfad	geallfaidh tú; geallfair†	geallfaidh sé, sí	geallfaimid; geallfaidh muid	geallfaidh sibh	geallfaidh siad; geallfaid†	a gheallfaidh; a gheallfas / a ngeallfaidh*	geallfar
conditional		gheallfainn / ngeallfainn‡‡	gheallfá / ngeallfᇇ	gheallfadh sé, sí / ngeallfadh sé, s퇇	gheallfaimis; gheallfadh muid / ngeallfaimis‡‡; ngeallfadh muid‡‡	gheallfadh sibh / ngeallfadh sibh‡‡	gheallfaidís; gheallfadh siad / ngeallfaidís‡‡; ngeallfadh siad‡‡	a gheallfadh / a ngeallfadh*	gheallfaí / ngeallfa퇇
subjunctive	present	go ngealla mé; go ngeallad†	go ngealla tú; go ngeallair†	go ngealla sé, sí	go ngeallaimid; go ngealla muid	go ngealla sibh	go ngealla siad; go ngeallaid†	—	go ngealltar
	past	dá ngeallainn	dá ngealltá	dá ngealladh sé, sí	dá ngeallaimis; dá ngealladh muid	dá ngealladh sibh	dá ngeallaidís; dá ngealladh siad	—	dá ngealltaí
imperative		geallaim	geall	gealladh sé, sí	geallaimis	geallaigí; geallaidh†	geallaidís	—	gealltar
verbal noun		gealladh
past participle		geallta

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form
‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

Mutation

Mutated forms of geall

radical	lenition	eclipsis
geall	gheall	ngeall

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) “geall”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “geall”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 355
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “geall”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “geall”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʲaul̪ˠ/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish gell (“pledge, surety; stake, wager”).

Noun

geall m (genitive singular gill, plural gill)

1. pledge
2. mortgage
3. bet, wager
4. prize, reward
5. desire, love
6. notch

Derived terms

• bùth-gheall f (“pawnshop”)
• cuir geall (“to bet, to wager”)
• geall-barantais m (“pledge; mortgage; bet”)
• geall-cheannaiche m (“pawnbroker”)
• geall-cinnidh m (“fine paid by one guilty of manslaughter to kinsmen of deceased”)
• geall-dìolaidh m (“mortgage”)
• geall-fhiachan m (“mortgage”)
• geall-meas m (“compensation for anything carried away or destroyed; estimate”)
• geall-réis m (“racing competition, games”)
• geall-spréidh m (“cattle-show”)
• geall-treabhaidh m (“ploughing-match”)

 

Etymology 2

From Old Irish gellaid (“pledges oneself, vows, promises; pledges, wagers; gives in pledge; testifies”), from gell (“pledge, surety; stake, wager”).

Verb

geall (past gheall, future geallaidh, verbal noun gealltainn or gealladh, past participle geallte)

1. promise, wager
2. pledge, vow

Conjugation

Conjugation of geall (regular)

		singular			plural			impersonal
		first	second	third m/f	first	second	third
independent	past	gheall mi	gheall thu	gheall e/i	gheall sinn	gheall sibh	gheall iad	ghealladh
	future	geallaidh mi	geallaidh tu	geallaidh e/i	geallaidh sinn	geallaidh sibh	geallaidh iad	geallar gealltar
	conditional	gheallainn	ghealladh tu	ghealladh e/i	gheallamaid ghealladh sinn	ghealladh sibh	ghealladh iad	ghealltadh gheallaist1 gheallaiste1
negative	past	cha do gheall mi	cha do gheall thu	cha do gheall e/i	cha do gheall sinn	cha do gheall sibh	cha do gheall iad	cha do ghealladh
	future	cha gheall mi	cha gheall thu	cha gheall e/i	cha gheall sinn	cha gheall sibh	cha gheall iad	cha gheallar cha ghealltar
	conditional	cha gheallainn	cha ghealladh tu	cha ghealladh e/i	cha gheallamaid cha ghealladh sinn	cha ghealladh sibh	cha ghealladh iad	cha ghealltadh cha gheallaist1 cha gheallaiste1
affirmative interrogative	past	an do gheall mi?	an do gheall thu?	an do gheall e/i?	an do gheall sinn?	an do gheall sibh?	an do gheall iad?	an do ghealladh?
	future	an geall mi?	an geall thu?	an geall e/i?	an geall sinn?	an geall sibh?	an geall iad?	an geallar? an gealltar?
	conditional	an geallainn?	an gealladh tu?	an gealladh e/i?	an geallamaid? an gealladh sinn?	an gealladh sibh?	an gealladh iad?	an gealltadh? an geallaist?1 an geallaiste?1
negative interrogative	past	nach do gheall mi?	nach do gheall thu?	nach do gheall e/i?	nach do gheall sinn?	nach do gheall sibh?	nach do gheall iad?	nach do ghealladh?
	future	nach geall mi?	nach geall thu?	nach geall e/i?	nach geall sinn?	nach geall sibh?	nach geall iad?	nach geallar? nach gealltar?
	conditional	nach geallainn?	nach gealladh tu?	nach gealladh e/i?	nach geallamaid? nach gealladh sinn?	nach gealladh sibh?	nach gealladh iad?	nach gealltadh? nach geallaist?1 nach geallaiste?1
relative future	affirmative	(ma) gheallas mi	(ma) gheallas thu	(ma) gheallas e/i	(ma) gheallas sinn	(ma) gheallas sibh	(ma) gheallas iad	(ma) gheallar
	negative	(mur) geall mi	(mur) geall thu	(mur) geall e/i	(mur) geall sinn	(mur) geall sibh	(mur) geall iad	(mur) geallar (mur) gealltar
imperative		geallam	geall	gealladh e/i	geallamaid	geallaibh	gealladh iad	geallar gealltar
stem		geall
verbal noun		gealladh/gealltainn
past participle		geallte

¹ Lewis dialect form

Related terms

• gealltanach (“hopeful, promising, promissory”)
• gealltanas (“assurance, pledge, promise”)

Mutation

Mutation of geall

radical	lenition
geall	gheall

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