uilig

Dutch

Etymology

From uil (“owl”) +‎ -ig (“-y, -ish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈœy̯.ləx/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ui‧lig
• Rhymes: -œy̯ləx

Adjective

uilig (not comparable)

1. silly, goofy, dopey
2. (physically) resembling owls

Declension

Declension of uilig
uninflected	uilig
inflected	uilige
comparative	—
		positive
predicative/adverbial		uilig
indefinite	m./f. sing.	uilige
	n. sing.	uilig
	plural	uilige
definite		uilige
partitive		uiligs

Derived terms

• uiligheid

Irish

Alternative forms

• alig, uileag

Etymology

Apparently a clipping of uile go léir, as cited in a letter from Holger Pedersen to Franz Nikolaus Finck.

Pronunciation

• (Galway) IPA^(key): /əˈlʲʊɡ/, /əˈlʲɞɡ/ (corresponding to the form uileag)
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈɨ̞lʲiɟ/

Adjective

uilig (indeclinable)

1. (Connacht, Ulster) Alternative form of uile (“all, entire”)

Quotations

• 1894 March, Peadar Mac Fionnlaoigh, “An rí nach robh le fagháil bháis”, in Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge, volume 1:5, Dublin: Gaelic Union, pages 185–88:

  Bhí sé pósta ar sheisear ban i ndiaidh a chéile, acht do mharbhuigh sé alig an tsaoghal iad, ar eagla go mbeidheadh páistídhe ar bith aca.

  He was married to six wives, one after another, but he killed all-in-the-world of them for fear they should have any children at all.

• 1988, Mícheál Ó Siadhail, Lesson 8, in Learning Irish (overall work in English), Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 38:

  […] bhí na gasúir bheaga uilig tuirseach agus cantalach. […] Má bhíonn an tseachtain uilig fliuch, deir na múinteoirí go mbíonn sé go dona.

  […] all the little children were tired and cranky. […] If the entire week is wet, the teachers say that it’s bad.

Adverb

uilig

1. (Connacht, Ulster) Alternative form of uile (“altogether, entirely”)

Quotations

• 1988, Mícheál Ó Siadhail, Lesson 8, in Learning Irish (overall work in English), Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 38:

  Tá neart múinteóirí anseo, cé nach bhfuil mórán gasúir uilig ann.

  There are a lot of teachers here, although there are not many children altogether there.

Mutation

Mutated forms of uilig

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
uilig	n-uilig	huilig	not applicable

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

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “uilig”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “uilig”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024