breathnaigh

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish brethnaigid (“to judge”),^[1] from breth (“judgment”). Doublet of breithnigh.

Pronunciation

(Galway) IPA^(key): /ˈbʲɾʲan̪ˠə/^[2], (Cois Fharraige) [ˈbʲɾʲæːn̪ˠə]^[3]
(Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈbʲɾʲahnˠi/^[4]

Verb

breathnaigh (present analytic breathnaíonn, future analytic breathnóidh, verbal noun breathnú, past participle breathnaithe) (ambitransitive)

to observe, examine
to look at, watch
to look, appear

Conjugation

Conjugation of *breathnaigh* (second conjugation)
indicative	singular			plural			direct relative	autonomous
indicative	first	second	third	first	second	third	direct relative	autonomous
present	breathnaím	breathnaíonn tú; breathnaír^†	breathnaíonn sé, sí	breathnaímid; breathnaíonn muid	breathnaíonn sibh	breathnaíonn siad; breathnaíd^†	a bhreathnaíonn; a bhreathnaíos	breathnaítear
past	bhreathnaigh mé; bhreathnaíos	bhreathnaigh tú; bhreathnaís	bhreathnaigh sé, sí	bhreathnaíomar; bhreathnaigh muid	bhreathnaigh sibh; bhreathnaíobhair	bhreathnaigh siad; bhreathnaíodar	a bhreathnaigh	breathnaíodh
past habitual	bhreathnaínn / breathnaínn^‡	bhreathnaíteá / breathnaíteá^‡	bhreathnaíodh sé, sí / breathnaíodh sé, sí^‡	bhreathnaímis; bhreathnaíodh muid / breathnaímis^‡; breathnaíodh muid^‡	bhreathnaíodh sibh / breathnaíodh sibh^‡	bhreathnaídís; bhreathnaíodh / breathnaídís^‡; breathnaíodh siad^‡	a bhreathnaíodh	bhreathnaítí / breathnaítí^‡

	singular			plural			direct relative	autonomous
	first	second	third	first	second	third	direct relative	autonomous
future	breathnóidh mé; breathnód; breathnóchaidh mé^†	breathnóidh tú; breathnóir^†; breathnóchaidh tú^†	breathnóidh sé, sí; breathnóchaidh sé, sí^†	breathnóimid; breathnóidh muid; breathnóchaimid^†; breathnóchaidh muid^†	breathnóidh sibh; breathnóchaidh sibh^†	breathnóidh siad; breathnóid^†; breathnóchaidh siad^†	a bhreathnóidh; a bhreathnós; a bhreathnóchaidh^†; a bhreathnóchas^†	breathnófar; breathnóchar^†
conditional	bhreathnóinn; bhreathnóchainn^† / breathnóinn^‡; breathnóchainn^†^‡	bhreathnófá; bhreathnóchthá^† / breathnófá^‡; breathnóchthá^†^‡	bhreathnódh sé, sí; bhreathnóchadh sé, sí^† / breathnódh sé, sí^‡; breathnóchadh sé, sí^†^‡	bhreathnóimis; bhreathnódh muid; bhreathnóchaimis^†; bhreathnóchadh muid^† / breathnóimis^‡; breathnódh muid^‡; breathnóchaimis^†^‡; breathnóchadh muid^†^‡	bhreathnódh sibh; bhreathnóchadh sibh^† / breathnódh sibh^‡; breathnóchadh sibh^†^‡	bhreathnóidís; bhreathnódh siad; bhreathnóchaidís^†; bhreathnóchadh siad^† / breathnóidís^‡; breathnódh siad^‡; breathnóchaidís^†^‡; breathnóchadh siad^†^‡	a bhreathnódh; a bhreathnóchadh^†	bhreathnófaí; bhreathnóchthaí^† / breathnófaí^‡; breathnóchthaí^†^‡

subjunctive	singular			plural			direct relative	autonomous
subjunctive	first	second	third	first	second	third	direct relative	autonomous
present	go mbreathnaí mé; go mbreathnaíod^†	go mbreathnaí tú; go mbreathnaír^†	go mbreathnaí sé, sí	go mbreathnaímid; go mbreathnaí muid	go mbreathnaí sibh	go mbreathnaí siad; go mbreathnaíd^†	—	go mbreathnaítear
past	dá mbreathnaínn	dá mbreathnaíteá	dá mbreathnaíodh sé, sí	dá mbreathnaímis; dá mbreathnaíodh muid	dá mbreathnaíodh sibh	dá mbreathnaídís; dá mbreathnaíodh siad	—	dá mbreathnaítí

imperative	singular			plural			direct relative	autonomous
imperative	first	second	third	first	second	third	direct relative	autonomous
—	breathnaím	breathnaigh	breathnaíodh sé, sí	breathnaímis	breathnaígí; breathnaídh^†	breathnaídís	—	breathnaítear

past participle	breathnaithe

verbal noun	breathnú

^† archaic or dialect form
^‡ dependent form

Derived terms

aisbhreathnaigh (“look back”, verb)
breathnadóir m, breathnóir m (“observer, spectator”)
breathnaigh ó (“to look (idly) around (oneself)”, verb)
fadbhreathnaitheacht f (“far-sightedness”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of *breathnaigh*
radical	lenition	eclipsis
breathnaigh	bhreathnaigh	mbreathnaigh

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “brethnaigid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
^ Finck, F. N. (1899), Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), Zweiter Band: Wörterbuch [Second volume: Dictionary], Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 52
^ de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1975), The Irish of Cois Fhairrge, Co. Galway: A Phonetic Study, revised edition, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, page 74, line 31
^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906), A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 130, page 50