béal

See also: beal and Beal

French

Noun

béal m (plural béals)

1. (southern France) small irrigation canal

Further reading

• “béal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• Abel, able, Bâle, bêla

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish bél^[1] (compare Scottish Gaelic beul, Manx beeal), possibly from Proto-Celtic *weblos (compare Welsh gwefl (“animal lip”), Cornish gwevel).^[2]

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /bʲiɑ̯l̪ˠ/^[3]
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /bʲeːl/^[4]
• (Connemara, Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /bʲeːlˠ/, /bʲeːl̪ˠ/^[5]

Noun

béal m (genitive singular béil, nominative plural béil)

1. mouth (of the face, etc.)
2. opening
3. edge (of knife)
4. muzzle (of weapon)

Declension

Declension of béal (first declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative béal béil vocative a bhéil a bhéala genitive béil béal dative béal béil forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an béal na béil genitive an bhéil na mbéal dative leis an mbéal don bhéal leis na béil

• Alternate plural used in certain phrases: béala

Derived terms

• áireamh béil (“mental arithmetic”)
• amhrán an bhéil dúnta (“sweet silence”)
• béal abhann (“mouth, outfall, of river”)
• béal an chléibh (“pit of the stomach”)
• béal an ghoile (“pit of the stomach”)
• Béal Árann (“Aran Sound”)
• béal báire (“goalmouth”)
• béal balbh
• béal bán (“soft talk”)
• béal beag (“ribbing on stocking”)
• béal beo (“talk; talkativeness; the spoken language”)
• béal bocht (“persistent complaint of poverty”)
• béal cairbreach (“rugged mouth”)
• béal dorais (“doorway; next door”)
• béal dúnta (“closed mouth; close-lipped person”)
• béal faoi
• Béal Feirste (“Belfast”)
• béal fúithi (“upside down; prone”)
• béal gan chaomhnú (“blabber”)
• béal gan foscadh
• béal gan scáth
• béal gan smid (“silent, unsociable, person”)
• béal gearrtha (“cutting-face in cornfield, stack etc.”)
• béal ina chónaí (“discreet person”)
• béal láin (“low-water mark”)
• béal le hÉirinn (“open to the wide world”)
• béal marbh (“dumbness, stupidity”)
• béal na bó (“cowslip”)
• béal na bréige (“liar”)
• béal na céille (“sensible person, one who talks sense”)
• béal na fírinne (“truthful person”)
• béal rásúir (“razor-edge”)
• béal salach (“infantile thrush; sore mouth, orf”)
• béal scair (“gap between two nets connected at top”)
• béal tuile (“hydrant”)
• béal-anróch (“making a poor mouth, plaintive”)
• béal-láidir (“rough-spoken; hardmouthed”)
• béal-leata (“gaping”)
• béal-leathadh (“splay”)
• béal-leathan (“wide-mouthed; yawning”)
• béal-ligtheoir (“rope used in opening bottom of pannier”)
• béal-líofa (“fluent of speech”)
• béal-lódáilte (“muzzle-loading”)
• béalach (“loquacious, loose-tongued”)
• béalaireacht (“orality”)
• béalaithris (“oral account, tradition”)
• béalalt (“bridle-joint”)
• béalán (“mouthful”)
• béalbhinn (“mellifluous; flattering”)
• béalbhraiteach (“tender-mouthed”)
• béalchlabach (“garrulous”)
• béalchliste (“ready-witted”)
• béalchnáimhseáil (“plaintive talk, querulousness”)
• béalchníopaireacht (“mean, miserly, talk”)
• béalchrábhadh (“lip-service to religion; hypocrisy”)
• béalchráifeach (“sanctimonious”)
• béalchráifeacht (“sanctimoniousness”)
• béalchuas (“buccal cavity”)
• béalchúthail (“shy to speak”)
• béaldath (“lipstick”)
• béaldearg (“red-lipped”)
• béaldruidte (“secretive”)
• béaléachtaint (“(spoken) hint”)
• béalfharaing (“oropharynx”)
• béalfhileata (“silver-tongued; smart-spoken”)
• béalfhliuch (“drizzling; fond of a drink”)
• béalfhothainiúil (“secretive”)
• béalgharbh (“roughish”)
• béalghrá (“lip-service”)
• béaliata (“tight-lipped, secretive”)
• béalmháchail (“defect of speech”)
• béalmhír (“bit”)
• béalmhúinte (“mannerly, polite”)
• béalóg (“small opening, gap”)
• béaloideas (“oral tradition; folklore”)
• béaloscailte (“wide open, agape; open; open-mouthed”)
• béalráiteach (“talkative; prating”)
• béalscaoilte (“indiscreet, unable to keep a secret”)
• béalscáthlán (“open shelter”)
• béalsceiteach (“blabbing, indiscreet”)
• béalseicin (“buccal membrane”)
• béalsreang (“string on mouth of bag, etc.”)
• béalstóinsithe (“taciturn”)
• béalteann (“firm, forceful of speech”)
• béaltirim (“dry-lipped, parched”)
• béaltriail (“oral test”)
• braon i mbéal na gaoithe (“blown drops of rain”)
• briathra béil (“spoken words”)
• buinne béil (“rim-wale”)
• clár béil (“lid”)
• comhrá béil (“gossip, hearsay”)
• cruabhéalach (“hard-mouthed of horse”)
• cuas an bhéil
• cuntas béil (“oral, verbal, account”)
• deimheas béil (“sharp tongue”)
• doras béil (“front door”)
• éist do bhéal (“shut your mouth”)
• faoi bhéal an aeir (“under the open sky”)
• faoistin bhéil (“oral confession”)
• folcadh béil (“mouth-wash”)
• galar béil (“thrush”)
• galar crúibe is béil (“foot-and-mouth disease”)
• garbh-bhéal
• gearrbhéalach (“curt, abrupt”)
• gnéas béil (“oral sex”)
• gunna béal-lódáilte (“muzzle-loader”)
• i mbéal na gaoithe (“in the teeth of the wind”)
• íde béil (“verbal abuse, revilement”)
• leathadh béil (“gaping”)
• luas béil (“muzzle-velocity”)
• mórbhéalach (“big-mouthed, blabbering”)
• orgán béil (“mouth-organ”)
• píopa béil (“flue-pipe”)
• port béil (“lilt”)
• rá béil (“verbal expression, statement”)
• raon faoi bhéal (“point-blank range”)
• salachar béil (“thrush; orf”)
• scagbhéalach (“tattling, indiscreet”)
• slat bhéil (“gunwale”)
• teagasc béil (“oral instruction; oral tradition”)
• tionóntacht bhéil (“parol tenancy”)

 

Related terms

• beola

Mutation

Mutated forms of béal

radical	lenition	eclipsis
béal	bhéal	mbéal

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), “bél”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
2. Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 419
3. Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 207, page 104
4. Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 42
5. Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 158, page 61

Further reading

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