Uath,
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...
Úath, hÚath (), is the sixth letter of the
Ogham
Ogham (also ogam and ogom, , Modern Irish: ; , later ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish language ( scholastic ...
alphabet, ᚆ, transcribed in manuscript tradition, but unattested in actual inscriptions. The
kenning
A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech, a figuratively-phrased compound term that is used in place of a simple single-word noun. For instance, the Old English kenning () means , as does ().
A kenning has two parts: a base-word (a ...
"a meet of hounds is ''huath''" identifies the name as ''úath'' "horror, fear", although the
Auraicept glosses "
white-thorn":
:''comdal cuan huath (.i. sce L. om); no ar is uathmar hi ara deilghibh'' "a meet of hounds is ''huath'' (i.e. white-thorn); or because it is formidable (''uathmar'') for its thorns."
The original etymology of the name, and the letter's value, are, however, unclear. McManus (1986) suggested a value /y/ (i.e. the semivowel
.
Peter Schrijver suggested that if ''úath'' "fear" is cognate with Latin ''pavere'', a trace of PIE ''*p'' might have survived into Primitive Irish, but there is no independent evidence for this.
BrÃatharogam
In the medieval
kennings
A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech, a figuratively-phrased compound term that is used in place of a simple single-word noun. For instance, the Old English kenning () means , as does ().
A kenning has two parts: a base-word (a ...
, called ''
BrÃatharogam
In early Irish literature, a ''BrÃatharogam'' ("word ogham", plural ''BrÃatharogaim'') is a two-word kenning which explains the meanings of the names of the letters of the Ogham alphabet. Three variant lists of ''brÃatharogaim'' or "word-ogham ...
'' or ''Word Ogham'' the verses associated with ''Úath'' are:
condál cúan - "assembly of packs of hounds" in the Word Ogham of ''Morann mic MoÃn''
bánad gnúise - "blanching of faces" in the Word Ogham of ''Mac ind Óc''
ansam aidche - "most difficult at night"" in the Word Ogham of ''Culainn''.
Auraicept na n-Éces
''Auraicept na nÉces'' (; "The Scholars' Primer" ) is an Old Irish text on language and grammar. The core of the text may date to the early eighth century, but much material was added between that date and the production of the earliest surviv ...
Calder, George, Edinburgh, John Grant (1917), reprint Four Courts Press (1995), {{ISBN, 1-85182-181-3
References
Ogham letters