bábhún

Irish

Alternative forms

• bán, bódhún
• bábhdhún, badhbhdhún, badhún, bádhún (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle Irish badún, possibly a compound of ba (“cows”) + dún (“fortress”)^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈbˠaːwənˠ/, /ˈbˠaːwən̪ˠ/^[2]

Noun

bábhún m (genitive singular bábhúin, nominative plural bábhúin)

1. walled enclosure
2. defensive wall, bawn, bulwark, bailey
3. breakwater (construction in or around a harbour)

   Synonym: tonnchosc

Declension

Declension of bábhún (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative bábhún bábhúin vocative a bhábhúin a bhábhúna genitive bábhúin bábhún dative bábhún bábhúin forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an bábhún na bábhúin genitive an bhábhúin na mbábhún dative leis an mbábhún don bhábhún leis na bábhúin

Mutation

Mutated forms of bábhún

radical	lenition	eclipsis
bábhún	bhábhún	mbábhún

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

References

1. Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “badún”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
2. Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 75

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bábhún”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN