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Ogham (also ogam and ogom, [4] / ˈ ɒ ɡ əm / OG-əm, [5] Modern Irish: [ˈoː(ə)mˠ]; Middle Irish: ogum, ogom, later ogam [ˈɔɣəmˠ] [6] [7]) 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 ogham, 6th to 9th centuries).
Ogham itself is an Early Medieval form of alphabet or cipher, sometimes also known as the "Celtic Tree Alphabet". A number of different numbering schemes are used. The most common is after R. A. S. Macalister's Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum (CIIC). This covers the inscriptions which were known by the 1940s.
The five "aicme" forfeda are glossed in the manuscripts Auraicept na n-Éces ('The Scholars' Primer), De dúilib feda ('Elements of the Letters') and In Lebor Ogaim ('The Book of Ogam'), by several Bríatharogaim ("word oghams"), or two word kennings, which explain the meanings of the names of the letters of the Ogham alphabet.
The early Medieval treatise Auraicept na n-Éces ('The Scholars' Primer') describes the origin of alphabets from the Tower of Babel. It assigns plant names and meanings to the Ogham alphabet, to a lesser extent to Norse Younger Futhark runes, and by extension to Latin letters when used to write Gaelic.
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" have been preserved, dating to the Old Irish period. They are as follows: Bríatharogam Morainn mac Moín
The original 20-letter Ogham alphabet used to write Primitive Irish. A capsule summary of the most important changes is (in approximate order): [2] [3] Syllable-final *n (from PIE *m, *n) assimilated to the following phoneme, even across word boundaries in the case of syntactically connected words. Voiceless stops became voiced: *mp *nt *nk ...
The Auraicept na n-Éces contains the tale of the mythological origins of Beith [2]. This moreover is the first thing that was written by Ogham, [illustration of seven b's, in Ogham script] i.e. (the birch) b was written, and to convey a warning to Lug son of Ethliu it was written respecting his wife lest she should be carried away from him into faeryland, to wit, seven b’s in one switch of ...
This alphabet is named after Briciu, the satirical poet in the court of the Ulster king Conchubar Mac Neasa, famed for his wicked tongue and skill in fomenting trouble. The twenty standard letters of the Ogham alphabet and six forfeda. This is the vertical writing of Ogham; in the horizontal form, the right side would face downward.