saol

• saoghal (classical, superseded)

From Old Irish saegul (“lifetime, world”), from Latin saeculum.

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /sˠeːlˠ/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /sˠiːlˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /sˠiːlˠ/, (older) /sˠɯːlˠ/; (less common) /sˠeːlˠ/, (older) /sˠɤːlˠ/[1]

The genitive singular of this word is pronounced [sˠeːlʲ] in Munster and formerly County Kilkenny, and not [sˠiːlʲ] as wrongly suggested by the Caighdeán Oifigiúil's reduced spelling saoil. In Munster and formerly County Kilkenny, ao [ɯː] before "broad" (non-palatal) consonants has become [eː], whereas ao [ɯː] before "slender" (palatal) consonants has become [iː]. Accordingly, in Munster and County Kilkenny, ao [ɯː] became [eː] in both nom.sg. saoghal [sˠɯːɣˠəlˠ] (which became "saeghal" [sˠeːɣˠəlˠ]) and gen.sg. saoghail [sˠɯːɣˠəlʲ] (which became "saeghail" [sˠeːɣˠəlʲ]) because ao [ɯː] preceded a "broad" (non-palatal) consonant, in this case gh [ɣˠ], which only later disappeared, reducing nom.sg. "saeghal" [sˠeːɣˠəlˠ] to "sael" [sˠeːlˠ], and gen.sg. "saeghail" [sˠeːɣˠəlʲ] to "saeil" [sˠeːlʲ]. Each dialect can derive its pronunciation by regular sound change from the Classical spelling saoghal/saoghail but not from the current Caighdeán Oifigiúil spelling saol/saoil. For a similar pronunciation mismatch in the Caighdeán Oifigiúil, compare the reduced spelling of baol from Classical baoghal.

saol m (genitive singular saoil, nominative plural saolta)

1. life, lifetime
2. world

   an saol mór ― the whole world; all people, everyone

• (life): beatha
• (world): domhan

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “saol”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “saegul”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

• (Sandong) IPA^(key): /saːu˩˧/

saol

1. ye, you all (second-person plural pronoun)