Bé

See also: Appendix:Variations of "be"

Irish

Etymology

From bé (“woman, maiden”), from Old Irish bé, from Proto-Celtic *ben, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn (“woman”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʲeː/

Noun

Bé f (genitive singular Bé, nominative plural Béithe)

1. (Greek mythology) a Muse

   Na naoi mBéithe ― The nine muses

Declension

Declension of Bé

Fourth declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative Bé Béithe Vocative a Bhé a Bhéithe Genitive Bé Béithe Dative Bé Béithe

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an Bhé na Béithe Genitive na Bé na mBéithe Dative leis an mBé don Bhé leis na Béithe

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
Bé	Bhé	mBé
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “Bé”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “Muse”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2024

Further reading

• Entries containing “Bé” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.

Limburgish

Alternative forms

• bie, bij, bei (widespread variants)
• bien (West Limburgish)
• bui (Hees, Rosmeer)
• Bei (Krefeld)

Etymology

From earlier bei, from Middle High German bīe, from Old High German bīa, from Proto-Germanic *bijō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /be/, [bɪ]
• Homophone: bé (can be distinguished using tone)
• Hyphenation: Bé
• Rhymes: -e

Noun

Bé f (plural Béjje, diminutive Béttje)

1. (Eupen) bee

Derived terms

• Béjjekaare
• Béjjekörref
• Béjjeschtéëk
• Béjjewass