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The words Bhain and Bhaint, with exactly these spellings, are among the most common words in Irish. I’ve worked out that they are both in the top 150. However, I’m finding it difficult to get an idea as to their meaning when looking in the dictionary.
Would you mind providing me with a few sentences, nothing idiomatic, containing Bhain and Bhaint (with the h included) which would give a learner a good idea as to there most common meanings.
If there are very common phrasal verbs or idioms which use these words you might mention them also.
GRMA!
Bhain is the past tense of bain. It means a lot of different things. It can mean “harvested”, “took”, “removed”, and a lot of other things. “Baint” (which you’ll see lenited to “bhaint” after a leniting word like “a”) is the verbal noun form, which means you’ll end up translating it something like “to take”, etc. (even though the exact meaning is more like “taking”, etc). You’ll also see it mean something like “making” in sentences like “feidhm a bhaint as” = to use/exploit it, i.e. literally taking effect/use out of it.
However, it also has a noun meaning of its own, which can be translated a bunch of different ways, but it’s something like “connection”, “relation”. Like “níl baint agam leis” = I have nothing to do with it, i.e. I have no connection with it. “Níl sé ag iarraidh baint ná páirt a bheith aige leis” = he wants no part of it.
Which dictionary are you using, by the way? Teanglann.ie is really an excellent resource and usually contains a plethora of useful examples.
The words Bhain and Bhaint, with exactly these spellings, are among the most common words in Irish. I’ve worked out that they are both in the top 150. However, I’m finding it difficult to get an idea as to their meaning when looking in the dictionary.
Would you mind providing me with a few sentences, nothing idiomatic, containing Bhain and Bhaint (with the h included) which would give a learner a good idea as to there most common meanings.
If there are very common phrasal verbs or idioms which use these words you might mention them also.
GRMA!
The h is just lenition which may occur or not. It doesn’t make bhain(t) a different word than bain(t).
baint is the verbal noun, bain the verb itself.The underlying basic meaning is “extract” or “pull out” and “release” (release sounds, feelings, out of a source out of hold)
You can extract potatoes from the ground (prátaí a bhaint) or extract enjoyment out of something (sult a bhaint as), extract money (= win money, airgead a bhaint).
You don’t have to tear the roots out of the ground to extract or release something, so you cut it off (féar a bhaint)
If the bell/clock “released” (bhain an clog) it made a sound, i.e. it rung or struck
If you released blood, you let blood (bhain tú fuil) etc.
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