inniu

Irish

Alternative forms

aniu, aniugh, indiu, innibh, inniubh (superseded)
andhiú, andiu, andiú, aniodh, a-niodh, aniogh, a-niogh, aniomh, a-niomh, a-niu, aniú, a-niú, a-niugh, anndiu, i ndiu, i ndiú, indhiu, in-diu, indiú, in-diú, indíu, indiubh, indiumh, inniú, ndiadha, ndíadha, ndiu, 'ndiu, ndiú, niugh (obsolete)^[1]

Etymology

From Old Irish indiu,^[2] composed of i (“in”) or in (“the”) plus the dative singular of día (“day”). Compare inné (“yesterday”).

Pronunciation

(Munster) IPA^(key): /ɪˈnʲʊvˠ/, [ɪˈnʲɯvˠ]^[3]
(Connacht) IPA^(key): /əˈn̠ʲʊ/, /əˈn̠ʲʊw/
(Ulster) IPA^(key): /əˈn̠ʲʊh/^[4]

Adverb

inniu

today

Usage notes

Unlike today in English, inniu is exclusively an adverb and has to be combined with forms of an lá (“the day”) in order to function as a noun. For instance:

an lá inniu a chaitheamh sa bhaile ― to spend today at home
ar chuma an lae inniu ― just like today
i gceannlínte an lae inniu ― in today's headlines

References

^ “inniu”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “indiu”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 29
^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 19