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dhá. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
dhá, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
dhá in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
dhá you have here. The definition of the word
dhá will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
dhá, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Irish
Etymology 1
From Old Irish dá, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.
Pronunciation
Numeral
dhá (triggers lenition)
- two
Tá dhá charr aige- He has two cars
- dhá dóibh ― two of them (non-personal)
Bheadh sé níos fearr dá bhféadfadh dhá de na rudaí ag deighilt- It would be better if two of the things could be separated
Usage notes
- Used before nouns; dó is used when free-standing (counting, telling a row of numerals, etc). The following noun is in the singular nominative (or, in the few cases where distinct duals have survived, the dual nominative (e.g. dhá bhróig – "two shoes")) and is almost always lenited; the sole exception is with the third-person possessive determiner a, which triggers mutation as if the dhá simply was not there:
- When used with adjectives, the adjective is always in the nominative plural and is lenited by default:
dhá bhád mhóra- two big boats
dhá mhadra dhubha- two black dogs
dhá amhrán ghearra- two short songs
- The alternative form dá is used after the definite article (which is always in the singular and is always an, even with feminine nouns in the genitive), aon ("any"), and céad ("first"):
an dá leabhar- the two books
teangacha an dá thír- the two countries' languages
an chéad dá bhliain- the first two years
- When referring to human beings, the personal form beirt is used.
Etymology 2
Lenited form of dá.
Pronunciation
Conjunction
dhá
- Alternative form of dá
Contraction
dhá
- Alternative form of dá
Derived terms
References
- ^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 215, page 110
- ^ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 136
- ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 285, page 101
Further reading
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “dhá”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
- Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “dá”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language