falla

See also: Falla, fallá, fállá, fålla, and fälla

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈfa.ʎə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfa.ʎa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *facla, contracted form of Latin facula, diminutive of fax (“torch”). Compare the borrowed doublet fàcula.

Noun

falla f (plural falles)

1. constructions of inflammable materials, based in figures that are caricatures (the ninots) that are installed in certain Valencian municipalities and are burned to ashes the day of Saint Joseph
2. the holidays around these constructions
3. the associations or organizations around these constructions
4. fire, bonfire

Derived terms

• faller
• Falles

Etymology 2

Deverbal of fallar.

Noun

falla f (plural falles)

1. fault or lack
2. (geology) fault

Related terms

• fallir
• fallar

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

falla

1. inflection of fallar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “falla”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “falla” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse falla, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃lH-.

Verb

falla (third person singular past indicative fall, third person plural past indicative fullu, supine fallið)

1. to fall

Conjugation

Conjugation of falla (irregular)

infinitive	falla
supine	fallið
	present	past
first singular	falli	fall (fell)
second singular	fellur	fall/falst (fell)
third singular	fellur	fall (fell)
plural	falla	fullu
participle (a34)1	fallandi	fallin
	imperative
singular	fall!
plural	fallið!

¹Only the past participle being declined.

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese falla (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from a Vulgar Latin *fallia, possibly through the intermediate or influence of Old French faille or Old Occitan falha. The geological sense is a more modern one from French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfaʎɐ]

Noun

falla f (plural fallas)

1. lack; shortage

   Synonym: marra

2. flaw; fail

   Synonym: eiva

3. (geology) a fault

Derived terms

• sen falla (“certainly, without fail”)

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “falla”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “falla”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “falla”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “falla”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “falla”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfatla/
• Rhymes: -atla

Etymology 1

From Old Norse falla, from Proto-Germanic *fallaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃lH-.

Verb

falla (strong verb, third-person singular past indicative féll, third-person plural past indicative féllu, supine fallið)

1. (intransitive) to fall

   Synonym: detta

2. (intransitive) to be killed, especially in action or in battle

   Synonym: vera drepinn

   • Matthew 26:52 (English and Icelandic)

     Jesús sagði við hann: „Slíðra sverð þitt! Allir, sem sverði bregða, munu fyrir sverði falla.“

     “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”

3. (intransitive) to flow

   Synonym: streyma

4. (intransitive) to fit closely, to shut tight, to meet

   Synonym: falla þétt að

5. (intransitive) to like

   Synonym: líka

Conjugation

falla – active voice (germynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að falla
supine sagnbót		fallið
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		fallandi
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	fell	féll		falli	félli
	þú	fellur	féllst		fallir	féllir
	hann, hún, það	fellur	féll		falli	félli
plural	við	föllum	féllum		föllum	féllum
	þið	fallið	félluð		fallið	félluð
	þeir, þær, þau	falla	féllu		falli	féllu
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	fall (þú), fallðu
plural	þið	fallið (þið), falliði1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

fallast – mediopassive voice (miðmynd)

infinitive nafnháttur		að fallast
supine sagnbót		fallist
present participle lýsingarháttur nútíðar		fallandist (rare; see appendix)
		indicative framsöguháttur			subjunctive viðtengingarháttur
		present nútíð	past þátíð		present nútíð	past þátíð
singular	ég	fellst	féllst		fallist	féllist
	þú	fellst	féllst		fallist	féllist
	hann, hún, það	fellst	féllst		fallist	féllist
plural	við	föllumst	féllumst		föllumst	féllumst
	þið	fallist	féllust		fallist	féllust
	þeir, þær, þau	fallast	féllust		fallist	féllust
		imperative boðháttur
singular	þú	fallst (þú), fallstu
plural	þið	fallist (þið), fallisti1

¹ Spoken form, usually not written; in writing, the unappended plural form (optionally followed by the full pronoun) is preferred.

fallinn — past participle (lýsingarháttur þátíðar)

strong declension (sterk beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	fallinn	fallin	fallið	fallnir	fallnar	fallin
accusative (þolfall)	fallinn	fallna	fallið	fallna	fallnar	fallin
dative (þágufall)	föllnum	fallinni	föllnu	föllnum	föllnum	föllnum
genitive (eignarfall)	fallins	fallinnar	fallins	fallinna	fallinna	fallinna
weak declension (veik beyging)	singular (eintala)			plural (fleirtala)
	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)	masculine (karlkyn)	feminine (kvenkyn)	neuter (hvorugkyn)
nominative (nefnifall)	fallni	fallna	fallna	föllnu	föllnu	föllnu
accusative (þolfall)	fallna	föllnu	fallna	föllnu	föllnu	föllnu
dative (þágufall)	fallna	föllnu	fallna	föllnu	föllnu	föllnu
genitive (eignarfall)	fallna	föllnu	fallna	föllnu	föllnu	föllnu

Derived terms

• falla allur ketill í eld
• falla um
• falla um koll
• falla í gleymsku
• falla vel við (“to like someone”)

  Mér fellur vel við hann.

  I like him.

• falla þungt (“to be grieved by something”)

  Mér fellur þetta þungt.

  This grieves me.

• fallast
• fallast á
• fallast hendur
• fallinn
• vera vel til fallið (“to be a good idea”)
• falla á prófi (“to fail an exam”)
• falla að (“of the tide; to be coming in”)
• falla frá
• falla í gjalddaga
• falla í kosningum
• falla í stafi
• falla í skaut
• falla niður
• fall
• falla eins og flís við rass

Related terms

• fella

Etymology 2

Noun

falla n

1. indefinite genitive plural of fall

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /ˈfˠɑl̪ˠə/

Noun

falla m (genitive singular falla, nominative plural fallaí)

1. Munster form of balla (“wall”)

Declension

Declension of falla (fourth declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative falla fallaí vocative a fhalla a fhallaí genitive falla fallaí dative falla fallaí forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an falla na fallaí genitive an fhalla na bhfallaí dative leis an bhfalla don fhalla leis na fallaí

Mutation

Mutated forms of falla

radical	lenition	eclipsis
falla	fhalla	bhfalla

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

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “falla”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931), Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 18