Lyon
Lyon is the Irish name for the city in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France.
Lyon is used as a proper noun to refer to the specific city in France.
Meaning: city in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France (name)
Did you know?
- Because Irish is a Celtic language, it shares a distant ancestral root with the Gaulish language spoken in Lyon over two thousand years ago.
- The Irish language uses a system of 'initial mutations' that change the start of words, but Lyon remains stubbornly frozen in its original form regardless of its grammatical role.
- Because Lyon is a foreign proper noun, it is often treated as a loanword in Irish, meaning it does not undergo the usual spelling changes or grammatical shifts found in native Irish place names.
Examples in context
- An bhfuil Lyon i bhfad uainn?Is Lyon far from you?
- Chuaigh mé go Lyon an tsamhail seo.I went to Lyon this summer.
Example conversation
Siobhán and Oisín are discussing their travel plans.
- SiobhánAn bhfuil tú ag dul go Lyon?Are you going to Lyon?
- OisínTá, táim ag dul an chéad chéile.Yes, I am going next month.
- SiobhánAn bhfuil tú ag obair i Lyon?Are you working in Lyon?
- OisínNíl, táim ag dul ar shaolra.No, I am going on holiday.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “lyon” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
