dhá

See also: dha, DHA, and dhà

Irish

Etymology 1

From Old Irish dá, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Pronunciation

Numeral

dhá (triggers lenition)

  1. two
    Tá dhá charr aige
    He has two cars
    dhá dóibh ― two of them (non-personal)
    Bheadh sé níos fearr dá bhféadfadh dhá de na rudaí ag deighilt
    It would be better if two of the things could be separated
Usage notes
  • Used before nouns; dó is used when free-standing (counting, telling a row of numerals, etc). The following noun is in the singular nominative (or, in the few cases where distinct duals have survived, the dual nominative (e.g. dhá bhróig – "two shoes", where broga is the plural)) and is always lenited unless preceded by the third-person possessive determiner a, which triggers mutation as if the dhá simply was not there:
  • a dhá chapall ― his two horses (lenition)
  • a dhá húll ― her two apples (h-prothesis)
  • a dhá dteach ― their two houses (eclipsis)
If followed by a pronoun, the pronoun is in the plural.
  • The alternate form dá is used after the definite article (which is always in the singular), aon ("any"), and céad ("first"):
  • an dá áit
    the two places
  • aon dá leabhar
    any two books
  • an chéad dá bhliain
    the first two years
  • When referring to people, the personal form beirt is used.

Etymology 2

Lenited form of dá.

Pronunciation

Conjunction

dhá

  1. Alternative form of dá

Contraction

dhá

  1. Alternative form of dá

Derived terms

References

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