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:

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

2008-06-19 CPD