béim

See also: beim

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish béim, from Proto-Celtic *beisman, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- (“to strike”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʲeːmʲ/

Noun

béim f (genitive singular béime, nominative plural béimeanna)

1. a blow (act of striking or hitting), stroke (blow or hit)

   Synonyms: buille, cíonán

2. emphasis (special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important), stress (on a point in an argument)
3. (music) beat (pulse on the beat level)

   Synonym: buille

4. (phonology) accent (stronger articulation), stress

   Synonyms: aiceann, béim ghutha

Declension

Declension of béim (second declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative béim béimeanna vocative a bhéim a bhéimeanna genitive béime béimeanna dative béim béimeanna forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an bhéim na béimeanna genitive na béime na mbéimeanna dative leis an mbéim don bhéim leis na béimeanna

Derived terms

• béim chluaise
• béim ghréine
• béim ghutha
• béim siar
• béim síos
• béimghríos
• béimneach
• buille sa bhéim
• comhartha béime
• dí-bhéimnigh

Mutation

Mutated forms of béim

radical	lenition	eclipsis
béim	bhéim	mbéim

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

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “béim”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “béim”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 63
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “béim”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “béim”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “béim”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• béimm

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *beisman (Breton boem, Cornish bom), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- (whence also the corresponding verb benaid) + *-smn̥.^[1] Thurneysen, however, suggests that *beisman is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”), making it a suppletive paradigm.^[2]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bʲeːmʲ]

Noun

béim n (genitive béimme, nominative plural béimmen)

1. verbal noun of benaid: a blow (act of striking or hitting), stroke (blow or hit)

   Synonym: bíth

   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 4^d15

     In Belzefuth: is béss didu ind lïacc benir il-béim friss, et intí do·thuit foir ɔ·boing a chnámi, intí fora tuit-som immurgu at·bail-side.

     The Beelzebub: it is the custom, then, of the stone that many blows are hit against it, and he who falls upon it breaks his bones; however, he whom it falls on perishes

   • The Old Irish Table of Penitential Commutations, published in Ériu 19 (1962, Royal Irish Academy), pp. 47-72, edited and with translations by D. A. Binchy, §12

     Arrae throiscti hi mminpectu choitcend .i. "Ałł ałł manus tuas dne..." usque "...veritatis", Pr. Nr. co forcend. Canar in sin hi crosfigill fo trichait ⁊ trichait slechtan ⁊ trichae mbemmend du abuind inna degad dide.

     Commutation of a fast for ordinary minor sins: Alleluia, alleluia, in manus tuas Domine... as far as veritatis and a full Pater Noster. This is sung thirty times in cross-vigil, and [during the] thirty genuflexions and thirty blows with a whip afterwards.

Declension

Neuter n-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	béimN	béimN	béimmenL
vocative	béimN	béimN	béimmenL
accusative	béimN	béimN	béimmenL
genitive	béimme	béimmenN	béimmenN
dative	béimmimL, béim	béimmenaib	béimmenaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• ailbéimm
• aithbéimm
• béimnech
• taithbéim
• tobéim

Descendants

• Irish: béim
• Scottish Gaelic: beum

Mutation

Mutation of béim

radical	lenition	nasalization
béim	béim pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/	mbéim

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

References

1. Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*bē-sman”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 64
2. Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, § 735, page 453; reprinted 2017.

Further reading

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