beirt

From Middle Irish beirt (“pair, two (people)”), from bert (“burden, load; bundle”).

• IPA^(key): /bʲɛɾˠtʲ/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /bˠɞɾʲtʲ/[1] (as if spelled boirt)
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /bʲɨ̞ɾˠtʲ/

beirt f (genitive singular beirte, nominative plural beirteanna) (triggers lenition (except of d, s, and t))

1. (a group of) two, a pair
   1. (of persons)

      Tá beirt deartháireacha agam.

      I have two brothers.

      Bhí filíocht ag an mbeirt.

      The two composed poetry.

      • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, vol. II, p. 48:

        ə rug tøsə klȧn̄ riəv? rugəs, rug mḗ šešŕ̥, tā ḱǡŕ ȷīb agm̥, agəs kȧĺū bøŕc.

        An rug tusa clann riamh? Rugas, rug mé seisear, tá ceathrar díobh agam, agus cailleadh beirt. (conventional orthography)

        Did you ever have children? Yes, I had six, I have four [still] and two died.

   2. (of things, without dependent noun)

      Tá beirt de chaoirigh bhána sa ghort.

      There are a pair of white sheep in the field.

• Generally used with the genitive plural when referring to human beings and the preposition de when referring to other things. With pronouns, either de or ag may be used:

  Bhí an bheirt againn ann. ― Both of us were there.

  Fuair beirt díobh bás ina naíonáin. ― Two of them died in infancy.

• dhá/dá (“two”, non-personal)
• dís

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “1 beirt”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904), “beirt”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 64
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “beirt”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 40
• Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 58

beirt f sg

1. genitive singular of beart