iontas

Irish

Alternative forms

• iongantas (superseded)

Etymology

From Old Irish ingantus,^[1] from the same root as ingnad (modern ionadh), from in- (negative) + gnáth (“customary, usual”), from Proto-Celtic *gnātos (“known, usual”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃-tós, past participle of *ǵneh₃- (“to know”). Cognate with Scottish Gaelic iongantas and Manx yindys.

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈuːn̪ˠt̪ˠəsˠ/ (as if spelled úntas)
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈiːn̪ˠt̪ˠəsˠ/ (as if spelled íontas)
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈiːn̪ˠt̪ˠəsˠ/^[2] (as if spelled íontas); /ˈeːn̪ˠt̪ˠəsˠ/, (older) /ˈɤːn̪ˠt̪ˠəsˠ/^[3][4] (as if spelled adhantas)

Noun

iontas m (genitive singular iontais, nominative plural iontais)

1. wonder

   Níl iontas orm.

   I’m not surprised.

   Tháinig iontas orm.

   I became surprised.

Declension

Bare forms: Case Singular Plural Nominative iontas iontais Vocative a iontais a iontasa Genitive iontais iontas Dative iontas iontais

Forms with the definite article: Case Singular Plural Nominative an t-iontas na hiontais Genitive an iontais na n-iontas Dative leis an iontas don iontas leis na hiontais

Declension of iontas

First declension

Synonyms

• ionadh

Derived terms

• cuir iontas ar (“to surprise”)

Related terms

• iontach

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
iontas	n-iontas	hiontas	t-iontas
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), “ingantus”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
2. Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 303, page 107
3. Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 70, page 30
4. Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 452, page 146

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “iongantas”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 407
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “iontas”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN