caisleán

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish caislén, from Old Irish caisel (from Anglo-Norman castel, from Latin castellum).^[1] By surface analysis, caiseal +‎ -án.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /kəˈʃlʲɑːn̪ˠ/^[2]
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈkaʃl̠ʲɑːnˠ/, /ˈkaʃl̠ʲɑːn̪ˠ/; /ˈkʊʃl̠ʲɑːnˠ/, /ˈkʊʃl̠ʲɑːn̪ˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈkaʃl̠ʲanˠ/, /ˈkaʃl̠ʲan̪ˠ/^[3]

Noun

caisleán m (genitive singular caisleáin, nominative plural caisleáin)

1. castle (fortified building)
2. mansion
3. (meteorology, of cloud) cumulus

Declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative caisleán caisleáin Vocative a chaisleáin a chaisleána Genitive caisleáin caisleán Dative caisleán caisleáin

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an caisleán na caisleáin Genitive an chaisleáin na gcaisleán Dative leis an gcaisleán don chaisleán leis na caisleáin

Declension of caisleán

First declension

Derived terms

• caisleáin óir (“sunset clouds; castles in the air”)
• caisleán cártaí (“house of cards”)
• caisleánach (“containing castles”, adjective)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
caisleán	chaisleán	gcaisleán
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), “caislén”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
2. Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 153, page 78
3. Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 226, page 83

Further reading

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