Focal an Lae #79
The Word of the Day in Irish
Word: lán (LAWN) [laːn]*
*Please note: from now on I will show the pronunciation of the day’s word
both in “newspaper-style” imitated pronunciaton and also in the more exact
phonemic transcription used in the dictionary Foclóir Póca. The phonemic
transcription will appear in square brackets.
Meaning: lán = full; fullness
Usage:
- Tá sí lán di féin. (TAW SHEE LAWN jih FAYN) = She’s full of herself (i.e., stuck up).
- lán go béal (LAWN guh BAY-uhl) = full to the brim (lit., full to mouth)
- Bhí a lán daoine ann. (VEE uh LAWN DEE-nuh AWN) = There were a lot of people there. (lit., was its fullness of people in-it)
History: Old Irish “lán”, Welsh “llawn” and Breton “leun” all come from Indo-European *plə-no-,
the suffixed zero-grade of the root *pelə- (to fill).
The “p” of Indo-European was completely lost in all words in Common Celtic, the ancestor of the modern Celtic languages.
English cognates include “full” (from Germanic *fulnaz) and “plenty” (from Latin “plenus”).
Related words in Irish are “líon” (fill) and “líonmhar” (numerous).
Scottish Gaelic: làn