fothain

Irish

Alternative forms

• fathain, foithin, fuithin, fuithint

Etymology

From Middle Irish foithin.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈfˠɪhənʲ/^[1] (corresponding to the form foithin or fuithin)

Noun

fothain f (genitive singular fothana)

1. shelter

   Synonym: foscadh

   faoi fhothain ― sheltered, screened

2. covert (hiding place)
3. lee

   taobh na fothana ― the leeward side

4. secret-keeping ability

   Níl aon fhothain ionam.

   I can’t keep a secret.

   (literally, “There is no secret-keeping ability in me.”)

Declension

Declension of fothain (third declension, no plural)

bare forms case singular nominative fothain vocative a fhothain genitive fothana dative fothain forms with the definite article case singular nominative an fhothain genitive na fothana dative leis an bhfothain don fhothain

Derived terms

• fothaineach
• fothainigh
• fothainiúil

Mutation

Mutated forms of fothain

radical	lenition	eclipsis
fothain	fhothain	bhfothain

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

References

1. Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 71

Further reading

• “fothain”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “foithin”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “foṫain”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 332
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “fuiṫin”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 340
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “fothain”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN