Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
name of the seventeenth letter of the
Ogham
Ogham ( Modern Irish: ; mga, ogum, ogom, later mga, ogam, label=none ) 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 langu ...
alphabet, ᚑ, meaning "
ash-tree
''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergreen ...
", which is related to Welsh ''onn(en)'', from the root was *''ōs-, *osen'' 'ash'. Its phonetic value is
The letter's
Bríatharogam
In Early Irish literature a ''Bríatharogam'' ("word ogham", plural ''Bríatharogaim'') is a two word kenning which explains the meanings of the names of the letters of the Ogham alphabet. Three variant lists of ''bríatharogaim'' or 'word-oghams' ...
kennings are the following:
*''congnaid ech'' "wounder of horses"
*''féthem soíre'' "smoothest of craftsmanship"
*''lúth fían'' " quipmentof warrior bands"
These refer to different uses of ashwood as horsewhips, wood used by carpenters, and for spears. In the Old Irish period, ''onn'' "ash" was replaced by ''uinnius''. McManus takes this as an indication that the Ogham letter names date to the
Primitive Irish
Primitive Irish or Archaic Irish ( ga, Gaeilge Ársa), also called Proto-Goidelic, is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages. It is known only from fragments, mostly personal names, inscribed on stone in the ogham alphabet in Ireland ...
period.
References
*Damian McManus, ''Irish letter-names and their kennings'', Ériu 39 (1988), 127-168.
Ogham letters