plural of nouns in -ach: -aí or -aigh?

[zeissan]

bealach, pl. bealaí
bacach, pl. bacaigh
Is there a rule for which plural is used?

[Labhrás]

bealach, pl. bealaí
bacach, pl. bacaigh
Is there a rule for which plural is used?

In bealach, -ach is part of the root. There’s no “beal”, bealach is derived from.
So it has a plural form bealaí (older prob. bealaighe)

In bacach, -ach is a derivation suffix to build adjectives and nouns. The root is bac, hindrance.
All (?) nouns with suffix -ach have -aigh as their plural form.

[zeissan]

go raibh míle maith agat!

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