iontach

iontach

Irish

Alternative forms

• iongantach (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Irish ingantach (“wonderful, remarkable, strange; amazed, wonder-struck”), from ingnad (compare modern ionadh).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈuːn̪ˠt̪ˠəx/ (as if spelled úntach)
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /ˈiːn̪ˠt̪ˠəx/ (as if spelled aontach or íontach)
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈiːn̪ˠt̪ˠa(x)/, (older) /ˈɯːn̪ˠt̪ˠa(x)/[1] (as if spelled aontach); /ˈeːn̪ˠt̪ˠa(x)/, (older) /ˈɤːn̪ˠt̪ˠa(x)/[2] (as if spelled adhantach)

Adjective

iontach (genitive singular masculine iontaigh, genitive singular feminine iontaí, plural iontacha, comparative iontaí)

1. wonderful (excellent, extremely impressive); surprising, strange

   Tá an t-amhrán seo go hiontach.

   This song is wonderful.

Usage notes

Takes the adverbial construction go hiontach when used predicatively after a form of bí.

Declension

Declension of iontach

	Singular		Plural (m/f)
Positive	Masculine	Feminine	(strong noun)	(weak noun)
Nominative	iontach	iontach	iontacha
Vocative	iontaigh		iontacha
Genitive		iontaí	iontacha	iontach
Dative	iontach	iontach; iontaigh (archaic)	iontacha
Comparative	níos iontaí
Superlative	is iontaí

Related terms

• ionadh
• iontas

Adverb

iontach

1. (Ulster) very, extremely

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
iontach	n-iontach	hiontach	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

1. Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 29
2. Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 30

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “iontach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Entries containing “iontach” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “iontach” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “ingantach”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language