eala

From Middle Irish ela, elae, from Old Irish elu, from Proto-Celtic *eli- (“swan”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- (“swan”). Cognates within Celtic include Breton alarc’h, Cornish alargh, Welsh alarch, and outside Celtic Latin olor and Ancient Greek ἐλέα (eléa, “marsh bird”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈal̪ˠə/, /ˈalˠə/

eala f (genitive singular eala, nominative plural ealaí)

1. swan
   • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, vol. II, p. 22:

     xøn̄ik mē ȧlə eŕ ə l̄ox.

     Chonaic mé eala ar an loch. (conventional orthography)

     I saw a swan on the lake.

   • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, vol. II, p. 22:

     əs mō šḱihān ən ȧlə n̄ā šḱihān ǵē.

     Is mó sciathán an eala ná sciathán gé. (conventional orthography)

     The wing of the swan is larger than the wing of a goose.

   • 1899, Franz Nikolaus Finck, Die araner mundart, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, vol. II, p. 22:

     xuə šȧxt n-ȧlə harm̥ sn̥ ēr əńú.

     Chuaigh seacht n-eala tharam san aer inniu. (conventional orthography)

     Seven swans went past me in the air today.

• Archaic dative singular: ealainn

• Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*elV-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 114–15
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “1 ela”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904), “eala”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 276
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “eala”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

• ǣlā, hēlā

Perhaps from a compound whose elements answer to ēa (“oh!, ah!”) +‎ lā (“lo”). Compare Old Frisian ēala (“hail!, hello!”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈæ͜ɑːˌlɑː/

ēalā

1. oh; hey

   Ēalā frēond, hwȳ eart þū swā sċēoh?

   Oh friend, why are you so shy?

   • late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     Ēalā brōðor Eċġberht, ēalā, hwæt dydest þū?

     Oh brother Egbert, oh, what have you done?

ēalā

1. if only
   • c. 897, King Alfred's translation of Pope Gregory's Pastoral Care

     Ēalā wǣre hē āwðer oþþe hāt oþþe ċeald.

     If only he was either hot or cold.

• ēalā ġif

• Middle English: halloo, halow
  • English: hallo, hello

ēala

1. hail!

   Eala, frya Fresena!

   Hail, free Frisians!

From Middle Irish ela, elae, from Old Irish elu, from Proto-Celtic *eli- (“swan”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- (“swan”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈjal̪ˠə/

eala f (genitive singular ealaidh, plural ealachan)

1. swan