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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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].

The Auraicept na n-Éces contains the tale of the mythological origins of Beith^[1]

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.

In the medieval kennings, 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)

Maise malach: "Beauty of the eyebrow" (Word Ogham of Culainn)^[2]

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.

Notes

^ Calder, George (1917 (reprint 1995)). Auraicept na n-Éces: The Scholars' Primer. Edinburgh (reprint Dublin): John Grant (reprint Four Courts Press). pp. pp.273-4. ISBN 1-85182-181-3. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |year= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
^ McManus, Damian (1991). A Guide to Ogam. Maynooth, Ireland: Maynooth Monographs. pp. pp.42-3. ISBN 1-870684-17-6. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)

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 '''Beith''' is the [[Irish language|Irish]] name of the first letter of the [[Ogham]] alphabet, {{Unicode|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 *''{{Unicode|gʷet-}}'' 'resin, gum'. Its phonetic value is {{IPA|[b]}}.
-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 = | year =1917 (reprint 1995) | month = | title =Auraicept na n-Éces: The Scholars' Primer  | chapter = | editor = | others = | edition = | pages =pp.273-4 | publisher =John Grant (reprint Four Courts Press) | location =Edinburgh (reprint Dublin)| id =ISBN 1851821813 | url = }}</ref>
+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 = | year =1917 (reprint 1995) | month = | title =Auraicept na n-Éces: The Scholars' Primer  | chapter = | editor = | others = | edition = | pages =pp.273-4 | publisher =John Grant (reprint Four Courts Press) | location =Edinburgh (reprint Dublin)| id =ISBN 1-85182-181-3 | url = }}</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.
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 <!--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==
 *[[Berkanan]]
-{{writingsystem-stub}}
 [[Category:Ogham letters]]
+{{writingsystem-stub}}

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