beagán

See also: beagan

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish becán m (“a little, small quantity”) (compare Scottish Gaelic beagan, Manx beggan); synchronically, beag (“small, little”) +‎ -án

Pronunciation

(Aran) IPA^(key): /ˈbʲɞɡɑːnˠ/

Noun

beagán m (genitive singular beagáin, nominative plural beagáin)

a little, a bit (small amount) (+ genitive)
a few (+ genitive)
i mbeagán focal ― in a few words

Níl ach beagán cairde aige. ― He has only a few friends.
(as adverb) a little, somewhat

Declension

Declension of beagán

First declension

Bare forms:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	beagán	beagáin
Vocative	a bheagáin	a bheagána
Genitive	beagáin	beagán
Dative	beagán	beagáin

Forms with the definite article:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	an beagán	na beagáin
Genitive	an bheagáin	na mbeagán
Dative	leis an mbeagán don bheagán	leis na beagáin

Derived terms

Terms derived from beagán

ar bheagán focal (“of few words”)
ar bheagán stóir, ar bheagán stró (“badly off”)
beagán ar bheagán (“little by little”)
déan mórán agus can beagán (“actions speak louder than words”, literally “do much and say little”)

duifean mór ar bheagán fearthainne (“much ado about nothing”, literally “much cloud bringing little rain”)
éist mórán agus can beagán (“be patient in hearing and reserved in speech”, literally “hear much and say little”)
glór mór ar bheagán cúise (“a lot of fuss about nothing”)
i mbeagán focal (“succinctly”, literally “in a few words”)

is fearr beagán den ghaol ná mórán den charthanas (“blood is thicker than water”, literally “better a little kinship than a lot of charity”)
le beagán cainte (“in a few words”)
mórán cainte ar bheagán cúise (“much ado about nothing”)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
beagán	bheagán	mbeagán
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

"beagán" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
“becán” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

(Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈpea̯kaːn/

Verb

beagán

first-person singular present indicative of beahkit

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