comharsa

Irish

Alternative forms

cómharsa, comhursa (dated)^[1]

Etymology

From Middle Irish comarsa f (“neighbour; neighbourhood”), from Old Irish com- (“with”) + aursa (“doorpost, doorjamb”), thus “one with a common doorpost”.^[2]

Pronunciation

(Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈkõːɾˠsˠə/^[3], /ˈkũːɾˠsˠə/^[4]
(Galway) IPA^(key): /ˈkuːɾˠsˠə/^[5]
(Mayo) IPA^(key): /ˈkõːɾˠʃə/^[6]
(Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈkõːɾˠsˠə/^[7]
Homophone: cúrsa (one pronunciation)

Noun

comharsa f (genitive singular comharsan, nominative plural comharsana or comharsain)

neighbour

Usage notes

Always grammatically feminine, regardless of the gender of the neighbour in question.

Declension

Declension of comharsa (fifth declension)

bare forms
	singular	plural
nominative	comharsa	comharsana
vocative	a chomharsa	a chomharsana
genitive	comharsan	comharsan
dative	comharsa comharsain (archaic, dialectal)	comharsana

forms with the definite article
	singular	plural
nominative	an chomharsa	na comharsana
genitive	na comharsan	na gcomharsan
dative	leis an gcomharsa leis an gcomharsain (archaic, dialectal) don chomharsa don chomharsain (archaic, dialectal)	leis na comharsana

Alternative plural forms: comharsanna (Cois Fharraige); comharsain

Derived terms

comharsanach
comharsanacht

Mutation

Mutated forms of *comharsa*
radical	lenition	eclipsis
comharsa	chomharsa	gcomharsa

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

^ “comharsa”, in Historical Irish Corpus, 1600–1926, Royal Irish Academy
^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “comarsa”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931), Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 128, page 68
^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931), Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 169, page 86
^ Finck, F. N. (1899), Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), Zweiter Band: Wörterbuch [Second volume: Dictionary], Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 167
^ Mhac an Fhailigh, Éamonn (1968), The Irish of Erris, Co. Mayo: A Phonemic Study, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, section 140, page 33
^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906), A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 40, page 18