Beith (letter): Difference between revisions

	Ogham letters; ᚛ᚑᚌᚐᚋᚁᚂᚃᚓᚇᚐᚅ᚜
Aicme Beithe; ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚁᚂᚃᚄᚅ᚜	Aicme Muine; ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚋᚌᚎᚏ᚜
Aicme hÚatha; ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚆᚇᚈᚉᚊ᚜	Aicme Ailme; ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚐᚑᚒᚓᚔ᚜
	Forfeda; ᚛ᚃᚑᚏᚃᚓᚇᚐ᚜
	v; t; e;

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Template:Contains Ogham text

Beith is the Irish name of the first letter of the Ogham alphabet, ᚁ, meaning "birch". In Old Irish, the letter name was Beithe, which is related to Welsh bedw(en), Breton bezv(enn), and Latin betula. Its Proto-Indo-European root was *gʷet- 'resin, gum'. Its phonetic value is [b].^[1]

Interpretation

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 birch: Thy wife will be seven times carried away from thee into faeryland or into another country, unless birch guard her. On that account, moreover, b, birch, takes precedence, for it is in birch that Ogham was first written.

Peith ᚚ, a late addition to the Forfeda, is a variant of Beith, with a phonetic value of [p], also called beithe bog "soft beithe", [p] being considered a "soft" variant of [b]. It likely replaced Ifín ᚘ, one of the "original" five Forfeda. Prior to the addition of the Forfeda to the original twenty letters, both [p] and [b] were probably symbolized by the same letter: Beith.

Bríatharogaim

In the medieval kennings, called Bríatharogaim (sing. Bríatharogam) or Word Oghams the verses associated with beith are:

Féocos foltchaín: "Withered foot with fine hair" in the Bríatharogam Morann mic Moín

Glaisem cnis: "Greyest of skin" in the Bríatharogam Mac ind Óc

Maise malach: "Beauty of the eyebrow" in the Bríatharogam Con Culainn.^[3]

References

^ McManus, Damian (1988). "Irish Letter-Names and Their Kennings". Ériu. 39: 127–168 – via JSTOR.
^ Auraicept na n-Éces Calder, George, Edinburgh, John Grant (1917), reprint Four Courts Press (1995), pp. 273-4, ISBN 1-85182-181-3,
^ Auraicept na n-Éces Calder, George, Edinburgh, John Grant (1917), reprint Four Courts Press (1995), ISBN 1-85182-181-3

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 {{Contains Ogham text}}
 {{Table Oghamletters}}
-'''Beith''' is the [[Irish language|Irish]] name of the first letter of the [[Ogham]] alphabet, ᚁ, meaning "[[birch]]". In [[Old Irish]], the letter name was '''Beithe''', which is related to [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''bedw(en)'', Breton ''bezv(enn)'', and [[Latin]] ''betula''. Its [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root was *''gʷet-'' 'resin, gum'. Its phonetic value is {{IPA|[b]}}.
+'''Beith''' is the [[Irish language|Irish]] name of the first letter of the [[Ogham]] alphabet, ᚁ, meaning "[[birch]]". In [[Old Irish]], the letter name was '''Beithe''', which is related to [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''bedw(en)'', Breton ''bezv(enn)'', and [[Latin]] ''betula''. Its [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root was *''gʷet-'' 'resin, gum'. Its phonetic value is {{IPA|[b]}}.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McManus|first=Damian|date=1988|title=Irish Letter-Names and Their Kennings|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30024135?seq=1|journal=Ériu|volume=39|pages=127-168|via=JSTOR}}</ref>
+==Interpretation==
-The ''[[Auraicept na n-Éces]]'' contains the tale of the [[Celtic mythology|mythological]] origins of ''Beith''<ref>{{cite book | first =George | last =Calder | authorlink = | coauthors = | origyear =1917| year =1995 | month = | title =Auraicept na n-Éces: The Scholars' Primer  | chapter = | editor = | others = | edition = | pages =273–4 | publisher =John Grant (reprint Four Courts Press) | location =Edinburgh (reprint Dublin)| isbn =1-85182-181-3 | url = }}</ref>
+The ''[[Auraicept na n-Éces]]'' contains the tale of the [[Celtic mythology|mythological]] origins of ''Beith''<ref>[[Auraicept na n-Éces]] Calder, George, Edinburgh, John Grant (1917), reprint Four Courts Press (1995),  pp. 273-4, {{ISBN|1-85182-181-3}},</ref>
 {{cquote|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 [[Lugh|Lug]] son of  [[Ethleann|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 birch: Thy wife will be seven times carried away from thee into faeryland or into another country, unless birch guard her.
 On that account, moreover, b, birch, takes precedence, for it is in birch that Ogham was first written.}}
+''Peith'' <span style="font-size:125%;">ᚚ</span>, a late addition to the [[Forfeda]], is a variant of ''Beith'', with a phonetic value of [p], also called ''beithe bog'' "soft ''beithe''", {{IPA|[p]}} being considered a "soft" variant of {{IPA|[b]}}. It likely replaced ''[[Ifín]]'' <span style="font-size:125%;">ᚘ</span>, one of the "original" five Forfeda.  Prior to the addition of the Forfeda to the original twenty letters, both {{IPA|[p]}} and  {{IPA|[b]}} were probably symbolized by the same letter: ''Beith''.
+==Bríatharogaim==
-In the medieval kennings, the verses associated with ''Beith'' are:
+In the medieval [[Kenning|kennings]], called ''[[Bríatharogam|Bríatharogaim]]'' (sing. ''Bríatharogam'') or ''Word Oghams'' the verses associated with ''beith'' are:
-:''Féocos foltchaín'': "Withered foot with fine hair" (Word Ogham of Morann mic Moín)
-:''Glaisem cnis'': "Greyest of skin" (Word Ogham of Mac ind Óc)
+''Féocos foltchaín:'' "Withered foot with fine hair" in the ''Bríatharogam'' ''Morann mic Moín''
-:''Maise malach'': "Beauty of the eyebrow" (Word Ogham of Culainn)<ref>{{cite book | first =Damian | last =McManus | authorlink = | coauthors = | year =1991 | month = | title =A Guide to Ogam  | chapter = | editor = | others = | edition = | pages =42–3 | publisher =Maynooth Monographs | location =Maynooth, Ireland | isbn =1-870684-17-6 | url = }}</ref>
+''Glaisem cnis:'' "Greyest of skin"  in the ''Bríatharogam'' ''Mac ind Óc''
+''Maise malach:'' "Beauty of the eyebrow"  in the ''Bríatharogam'' ''Con'' ''Culainn''.<ref>[[Auraicept na n-Éces]] Calder, George, Edinburgh, John Grant (1917), reprint Four Courts Press (1995), {{ISBN|1-85182-181-3}}</ref>
+==References==
+{{Reflist}}
-''Peith'' <span style="font-size:125%;">ᚚ</span>, a late addition to the [[Forfeda]], is a variant of ''Beith'', with a phonetic value of [p], also called ''beithe bog'' "soft ''beithe''", {{IPA|[p]}} being considered a "soft" variant of {{IPA|[b]}}. It likely replaced ''[[Ifín]]'' <span style="font-size:125%;">ᚘ</span>, one of the "original" five Forfeda.  Prior to the addition of the Forfeda to the original twenty letters, both {{IPA|[p]}} and  {{IPA|[b]}} were probably symbolized by the same letter: ''Beith''.
-==Notes==
-<!--This article uses the Cite.php citation mechanism. If you would like more information on how to add footnotes to this article, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cite/Cite.php -->
-<references/>
 ==See also==

Ogham letters ᚛ᚑᚌᚐᚋᚁᚂᚃᚓᚇᚐᚅ᚜
Aicme Beithe ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚁᚂᚃᚄᚅ᚜			Aicme Muine ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚋᚌᚎᚏ᚜
ᚁ	[b]	Beith	ᚋ	[m]	Muin
ᚂ	[l]	Luis	ᚌ	[ɡ]	Gort
ᚃ	[w]	Fearn	ᚍ	[ɡʷ]	nGéadal
ᚄ	[s]	Sail	ᚎ	[st], [ts], [sw]	Straif
ᚅ	[n]	Nion	ᚏ	[r]	Ruis
Aicme hÚatha ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚆᚇᚈᚉᚊ᚜			Aicme Ailme ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚐᚑᚒᚓᚔ᚜
ᚆ	[j]	Uath	ᚐ	[a]	Ailm
ᚇ	[d]	Dair	ᚑ	[o]	Onn
ᚈ	[t]	Tinne	ᚒ	[u]	Úr
ᚉ	[k]	Coll	ᚓ	[e]	Eadhadh
ᚊ	[kʷ]	Ceirt	ᚔ	[i]	Iodhadh
Forfeda ᚛ᚃᚑᚏᚃᚓᚇᚐ᚜
	ᚕ	[ea], [k], [x], [eo]	Éabhadh
	ᚖ	[oi]	Ór
	ᚗ	[ui]	Uilleann
	ᚘ	[ia]	Ifín
	ᚙ	[x], [ai]	Eamhancholl
	ᚚ	[p]	Peith
v t e