is the Irish name of the twentieth 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 langua ...

alphabet, ᚔ. In

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 ...

, the letter name was . Its phonetic value is The original meaning of the letter name is uncertain, but it is likely an artificially altered pair with , much like

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, and may refer to " yew".

Interpretation

The medieval glossators all assign " yew" as the meaning of the letter name referred to by the kennings, though ''Idad'' is not a word attested in its own right. ''Idad'' as "yew" is glossed by these later commentators as deriving from a modified form of ''ibar'' originally. However, this is unlikely to be the

word that gave the letter its value of "yew", as the cognate

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

''efwr'' and

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

''eburos'' point to a

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 ...

''*eburas,'' and ''ibar'' was used (with qualifiers) to refer to a whole range of evergreen shrubs''.'' It is more likely that the

word that gave the letter its ascribed meaning was ''éo,'' from the

''*iwas'' (c.f.

''ywen'',

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerl ...

''ivo-'',

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...

''*iwo-'' "yew"). McManus suggests that the original letter names for ''edad'' and ''idad'' were likely *''eburas'' (or *''esox'') and *''iwas'', hence their values and respectively, with confusion arising in the medieval period as the language evolved.

Bríatharogam

In the medieval kennings, called '' Bríatharogaim'' or ''Word Ogham'' the verses associated with ''idad'' are: ''sinem fedo'' - "oldest tree" in the ''Bríatharogam'' ''Morann mic Moín'' ''caínem sen'' - "fairest of the ancients" in the ''Bríatharogam'' ''Mac ind Óc'' ''lúth lobair'' (?) - "energy of an infirm person (?)" in the ''Bríatharogam'' ''Con'' ''Culainn''.

References

{{Reflist Ogham letters