is the reconstructed
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic br ...
name of the
Elder Futhark
The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Peri ...
''e''
rune
Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...
, meaning "
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
" (cognate to Latin , Gaulish , Tocharian B , Sanskrit , Avestan and
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writte ...
). In the
Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is continued as (properly , but spelled without the diphthong to avoid confusion with "yew").
The Proto-Germanic vowel system was asymmetric and unstable. The difference between the long vowels expressed by ''e'' and ''ï'' (sometimes transcribed as and ) was lost. The
Younger Futhark
The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet and a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, with only 16 characters, in use from about the 9th century, after a "transitional period" during the 7th and 8th centuries.
The ...
continues neither, lacking a letter expressing ''e'' altogether. The Anglo-Saxon futhorc faithfully preserved all Elder futhorc staves, but assigned new sound values to the redundant ones, futhorc expressing a diphthong.
In the case of the
Gothic alphabet
The Gothic alphabet is an alphabet used for writing the Gothic language. Ulfilas (or Wulfila) developed it in the 4th century AD for the purpose of translating the Bible.
The alphabet essentially uses uncial forms of the Greek alphabet, wi ...
, where the names of the runes were re-applied to letters derived from the Greek alphabet, the letter ''e'' was named "horse" as well (note that in Gothic orthography, represents monophthongic /e/).
Anglo-Saxon rune poem
The Anglo-Saxon
rune poem
Rune poems are poems that list the letters of runic alphabets while providing an explanatory poetic stanza for each letter. Three different poems have been preserved: the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, the Norwegian Rune Poem, and the Icelandic Rune Poe ...
has:
:
:
:
:
:"The horse is a joy to princes in the presence of warriors.
: A steed in the pride of its hoofs,
: when rich men on horseback bandy words about it;
: and it is ever a source of comfort to the restless."
Runes
{{Writingsystem-stub