buail

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish búailid (“beats, strikes, assaults; knocks (on); strikes, coins (money); stamps, impresses (a seal)”, verb).^[1] See buille (“blow, stroke”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bˠuəlʲ/
• (Ulster, dated) IPA^(key): /bˠiːlʲ/ (as if spelled baoil)
• (rapid speech) IPA^(key): /bˠɔlʲ/

Verb

buail (present analytic buaileann, future analytic buailfidh, verbal noun bualadh, past participle buailte)

1. (transitive, intransitive) strike, hit, beat

   An té a bhuailtear sa cheann bíonn eagla air. ― A burnt child dreads the fire. (literally, “He who gets hit in the head has fear.”)

2. defeat, beat
3. strike out, make one's way, proceed
   • 1939, Peig Sayers, “Inghean an Cheannaidhe”, in Marie-Louise Sjoestedt, Description d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études; 270) (overall work in French), Paris: Librairie Honoré Champion, page 196:

     Do bhuail sé an cé isteach agus bhí Máire Bhán agus a leanbhín álainn roimis agus sceitimíní uirthi ag fáiltiughadh roimis.

     He made his way onto the quay, and Máire Bhán and her beautiful little child were waiting for him, and welcomed him excitedly.

4. to clap (one's hands)
5. to mint (coins)

Conjugation

		singular			plural			relative	autonomous
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	present	buailim	buaileann tú; buailir†	buaileann sé, sí	buailimid	buaileann sibh	buaileann siad; buailid†	a bhuaileann; a bhuaileas / a mbuaileann*	buailtear
	past	bhuail mé; bhuaileas	bhuail tú; bhuailis	bhuail sé, sí	bhuaileamar; bhuail muid	bhuail sibh; bhuaileabhair	bhuail siad; bhuaileadar	a bhuail / ar bhuail*	buaileadh
	past habitual	bhuailinn / mbuailinn‡‡	bhuailteá / mbuailteᇇ	bhuaileadh sé, sí / mbuaileadh sé, s퇇	bhuailimis; bhuaileadh muid / mbuailimis‡‡; mbuaileadh muid‡‡	bhuaileadh sibh / mbuaileadh sibh‡‡	bhuailidís; bhuaileadh siad / mbuailidís‡‡; mbuaileadh siad‡‡	a bhuaileadh / a mbuaileadh*	bhuailtí / mbuailt퇇
future		buailfidh mé; buailfead	buailfidh tú; buailfir†	buailfidh sé, sí	buailfimid; buailfidh muid	buailfidh sibh	buailfidh siad; buailfid†	a bhuailfidh; a bhuailfeas / a mbuailfidh*	buailfear
conditional		bhuailfinn / mbuailfinn‡‡	bhuailfeá / mbuailfeᇇ	bhuailfeadh sé, sí / mbuailfeadh sé, s퇇	bhuailfimis; bhuailfeadh muid / mbuailfimis‡‡; mbuailfeadh muid‡‡	bhuailfeadh sibh / mbuailfeadh sibh‡‡	bhuailfidís; bhuailfeadh siad / mbuailfidís‡‡; mbuailfeadh siad‡‡	a bhuailfeadh / a mbuailfeadh*	bhuailfí / mbuailf퇇
subjunctive	present	go mbuaile mé; go mbuailead†	go mbuaile tú; go mbuailir†	go mbuaile sé, sí	go mbuailimid; go mbuaile muid	go mbuaile sibh	go mbuaile siad; go mbuailid†	—	go mbuailtear
	past	dá mbuailinn	dá mbuailteá	dá mbuaileadh sé, sí	dá mbuailimis; dá mbuaileadh muid	dá mbuaileadh sibh	dá mbuailidís; dá mbuaileadh siad	—	dá mbuailtí
imperative		buailim	buail	buaileadh sé, sí	buailimis	buailigí; buailidh†	buailidís	—	buailtear
verbal noun		bualadh
past participle		buailte

conjugation of buail (first conjugation – A)

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form
‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

Derived terms

• buail amach
• buail aníos
• buail anuas
• buail ar
• buail chuig
• buail faoi
• buail le
• buail roimh
• buail síos
• buail suas
• buail um
• clóbhuail
• frithbhuail

 

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
buail	bhuail	mbuail
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), “búailid, búalaid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Further reading

• “buail”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “buailim”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 95
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “buail”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish búalaid. See buille (“blow, stroke”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpuɪl/

Verb

buail (past bhuail, future buailidh, verbal noun bualadh, past participle buailte)

1. strike, hit, bang, beat, smite, knock, pelt, rap, thrust, thump
2. thrash, thresh (corn)
3. coin

Derived terms

• buail air
• buail an ceann

Mutation

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

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈbɨ.ai̯l/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈbi.ai̯l/

Noun

buail m pl

1. plural of bual

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
buail	fuail	muail	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.