beinn

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse beinn, from Proto-Germanic *bainaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /peitn/
• Rhymes: -eitn

Adjective

beinn (comparative beinni, superlative beinastur)

1. straight, right

   Maðurinn stendur beinn.

   The man stands straight.

2. (television) live

Inflection

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinn	bein	beint
accusative	beinan	beina	beint
dative	beinum	beinni	beinu
genitive	beins	beinnar	beins
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinir	beinar	bein
accusative	beina	beinar	bein
dative	beinum	beinum	beinum
genitive	beinna	beinna	beinna

    positive (strong declension)

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beini	beina	beina
accusative	beina	beinu	beina
dative	beina	beinu	beina
genitive	beina	beinu	beina
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinu	beinu	beinu
accusative	beinu	beinu	beinu
dative	beinu	beinu	beinu
genitive	beinu	beinu	beinu

    positive (weak declension)

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinni	beinni	beinna
accusative	beinni	beinni	beinna
dative	beinni	beinni	beinna
genitive	beinni	beinni	beinna
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinni	beinni	beinni
accusative	beinni	beinni	beinni
dative	beinni	beinni	beinni
genitive	beinni	beinni	beinni

    comparative

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinastur	beinust	beinast
accusative	beinastan	beinasta	beinast
dative	beinustum	beinastri	beinustu
genitive	beinasts	beinastrar	beinasts
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinastir	beinastar	beinust
accusative	beinasta	beinastar	beinust
dative	beinustum	beinustum	beinustum
genitive	beinastra	beinastra	beinastra

    superlative (strong declension)

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinasti	beinasta	beinasta
accusative	beinasta	beinustu	beinasta
dative	beinasta	beinustu	beinasta
genitive	beinasta	beinustu	beinasta
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinustu	beinustu	beinustu
accusative	beinustu	beinustu	beinustu
dative	beinustu	beinustu	beinustu
genitive	beinustu	beinustu	beinustu

    superlative (weak declension)

Derived terms

• bein ræða
• beint
• í beinni
• óbeinn

 

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /bʲein̠ʲ/^[1]

Verb

beinn

1. first-person singular past subjunctive of bí

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
beinn	bheinn	mbeinn
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

1. Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 52

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish benn (“peak, point, prong, pinnacle”),^[1] from Proto-Celtic *bandā (“peak, top”).

Noun

beinn m (genitive singular beinnee, plural beinnyn or binn)

1. mountain

   Synonyms: muyne, slieau

2. ben
3. summit, pinnacle, apex

   Synonyms: ard-veinn, baare, mullagh

4. tine of deer

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
beinn	veinn	meinn
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

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

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• ·beind

Verb

·beinn

1. inflection of at·tá:
   1. first-person singular conditional
   2. first-person singular past subjunctive

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
·beinn	·beinn pronounced with /-β(ʲ)-/	·mbeinn
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *bainaz.

Adjective

beinn (comparative beinari, superlative beinastr)

1. straight, right
2. hospitable

Declension

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinn	bein	beint
accusative	beinan	beina	beint
dative	beinum	beinni	beinu
genitive	beins	beinnar	beins
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinir	beinar	bein
accusative	beina	beinar	bein
dative	beinum	beinum	beinum
genitive	beinna	beinna	beinna

    Strong declension of beinn

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beini	beina	beina
accusative	beina	beinu	beina
dative	beina	beinu	beina
genitive	beina	beinu	beina
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinu	beinu	beinu
accusative	beinu	beinu	beinu
dative	beinum	beinum	beinum
genitive	beinu	beinu	beinu

    Weak declension of beinn

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinari	beinari	beinara
accusative	beinara	beinari	beinara
dative	beinara	beinari	beinara
genitive	beinara	beinari	beinara
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinari	beinari	beinari
accusative	beinari	beinari	beinari
dative	beinurum	beinurum	beinurum
genitive	beinari	beinari	beinari

    Declension of comparative of beinn

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinastr	beinust	beinast
accusative	beinastan	beinasta	beinast
dative	beinustum	beinastri	beinustu
genitive	beinasts	beinastrar	beinasts
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinastir	beinastar	beinust
accusative	beinasta	beinastar	beinust
dative	beinustum	beinustum	beinustum
genitive	beinastra	beinastra	beinastra

    Strong declension of superlative of beinn

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinasti	beinasta	beinasta
accusative	beinasta	beinustu	beinasta
dative	beinasta	beinustu	beinasta
genitive	beinasta	beinustu	beinasta
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinustu	beinustu	beinustu
accusative	beinustu	beinustu	beinustu
dative	beinustum	beinustum	beinustum
genitive	beinustu	beinustu	beinustu

    Weak declension of superlative of beinn

Descendants

Descendants

• Icelandic: beinn
• Faroese: beinur
• Norwegian Nynorsk: bein
• Norwegian Bokmål: ben, bein
• Swedish: bena
• Danish: ben
• → Middle English: beyn, bayn, bayne, bain
  • Scots: bein, bien
  • English: bain

Further reading

• “beinn”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Etymology 2

From bein n (“bone, leg”), from Proto-Germanic *bainą, also from *bainaz.

Adjective

beinn

1. (in compounds) -legged

Declension

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinn	bein	beint
accusative	beinan	beina	beint
dative	beinum	beinni	beinu
genitive	beins	beinnar	beins
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinir	beinar	bein
accusative	beina	beinar	bein
dative	beinum	beinum	beinum
genitive	beinna	beinna	beinna

    Strong declension of beinn

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beini	beina	beina
accusative	beina	beinu	beina
dative	beina	beinu	beina
genitive	beina	beinu	beina
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	beinu	beinu	beinu
accusative	beinu	beinu	beinu
dative	beinum	beinum	beinum
genitive	beinu	beinu	beinu

    Weak declension of beinn

Derived terms

• berbeinn (“bare-legged”)
• digrbeinn (“thick-legged”)

Further reading

• -beinn in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish benn (“peak, point, pinnacle”),^[1] from Proto-Celtic *bandā (“peak, top”). Doublet of beann.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /peiɲ/^[2]
• (Lewis) IPA^(key): [b̥ẽ̠ĩɲ]^[3]
• (Skye) IPA^(key): /pɤiɲ/^[4]

Noun

beinn f (genitive singular beinne, plural beanntan)

1. mountain, hill

   Synonyms: monadh, sliabh

   mar an ceò thall air a' bheinn ― as the distant mist on the hill

2. pinnacle
3. bin
4. head, top, high place

Declension

Indefinite
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	beinn	beanntan
Genitive	beinne	beann
Dative	beinn	beanntan
Definite
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	(a') bheinn	(na) beanntan
Genitive	(na) beinne	(nam) beann
Dative	(a') bheinn	(na) beanntan
Vocative	bheinn	bheannta

Declension of beinn (irregular)

Derived terms

• beinn-theine
• eigh-bheinn

Descendants

• → Scots: ben

Mutation

Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical	Lenition
beinn	bheinn
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

1. Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “benn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
2. Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937) The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
3. Oftedal, M. (1956) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. III: The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
4. Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1941) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. II: The dialects of Skye and Ross-shire, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap

Further reading

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “beinn”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• MacLennan, Malcolm (1925) A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, Edinburgh: J. Grant, →OCLC