bonnán buí

Irish

Alternative forms
  • buinneán buí

Etymology

Literally, “yellow bittern”; however, it is unlikely to refer to the bird known in English as the yellow bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis), which is native to Central and East Asia and unknown in Ireland. Dictionaries gloss bonnán buí (and bonnán léana (literally “water-meadow bittern”)) simply as “bittern”, but it probably refers specifically to the common, Eurasian or great bittern (Botaurus stellaris), which was common in Ireland until the mid-19th century.[1]

Pronunciation
  • (Ulster) IPA(key): /ˈbˠɪn̠ʲanˠ ˈbˠiː/, /ˈbˠɪn̠ʲan̪ˠ ˈbˠiː/[2] (corresponding to the form buinneán buí)

Noun

bonnán buí m (genitive singular bonnáin bhuí, nominative plural bonnáin bhuí)

  1. bittern

Declension
Declension of bonnán buí

First declension

Bare forms:

Case Singular Plural
Nominative bonnán buí bonnáin bhuí
Vocative a bhonnáin bhuí a bhonnána buí
Genitive bonnáin bhuí bonnán buí
Dative bonnán buí bonnáin bhuí

Forms with the definite article:

Case Singular Plural
Nominative an bonnán buí na bonnáin bhuí
Genitive an bhonnáin bhuí na mbonnán buí
Dative leis an mbonnán buí
don bhonnán bhuí		 leis na bonnáin bhuí

Mutation
Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
bonnán buí bhonnán buí mbonnán buí
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References
  1. Ana Queiros (2023) “Great Bitterns in Ireland”, in National Museum of Ireland‎, retrieved 2023-08-23
  2. Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 90

Further reading
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