61-510: In Lebor Ogaim ("The Book of Ogams"), also known as the Ogam Tract , is an Old Irish treatise on the ogham alphabet. It is preserved in R.I.A. MS 23 P 12 308–314 (AD 1390), T.C.D. H.3.18, 26.1–35.28 (AD 1511) and National Library of Ireland MS G53 1–22 (17th century), and fragments in British Library Add. 4783. It does not bear a title in the manuscripts, but it is mentioned in
122-444: A broad labial (for example, lebor /ˈLʲev u r/ "book"; domun /ˈdoṽ u n/ "world"). The phoneme /ə/ occurred in other circumstances. The occurrence of the two phonemes was generally unrelated to the nature of the corresponding Proto-Celtic vowel, which could be any monophthong: long or short. Long vowels also occur in unstressed syllables. However, they rarely reflect Proto-Celtic long vowels, which were shortened prior to
183-473: A cause of anguish than many of the others, but at least the name shows that a sense of humour is in operation. No. 23 Foraicimib 7 Deachaib/ Extra Groups and Syllables : Bacht, lact, fect, sect, nect; huath, drong, tect, caect, quiar; maei, gaeth, ngael, strmrect, rect; ai, ong, ur, eng, ing . These are supplementary lists of syllables which the Oghamist had to learn as part of his grammatical training. Several of
244-429: A consonant ensures its unmutated sound. While the letter ⟨c⟩ may be voiced / ɡ / at the end of some words, but when it is written double ⟨cc⟩ it is always voiceless / k / in regularised texts; however, even final /ɡ/ was often written "cc", as in bec / becc "small, little" (Modern Irish and Scottish beag , Manx beg ). In later Irish manuscripts, lenited f and s are denoted with
305-450: A convenient manner, but these are only a small number of the total, and he regards the rest as nothing more than the result of the fascination of the Medieval mind with cryptic alphabets. However, some of the varieties indicate a possible use as property or business records and tallies, and it may be that the many cryptic varieties were deemed worthy of study in themselves as a means of training
366-472: A daughter that will be born of that pregnancy." This seems to mean that a name with an odd number of letters foretells a boy, an even number a girl. Cossogam/Foot-ogam : This describes a way of signing ogham using the fingers against the leg. "The fingers of the hand about the shinbone for the letters and to put them on the right of the shinbone for group B. To the left for group H. Athwart the shinbone for group M. Straight across for group A, viz, one finger for
427-422: A number of alphabets that perform an assortment of uses. Some of these are as follows: Macogam/Boy ogam : This is a technique for divining the sex of an unborn child. The name of the pregnant woman "is divided there unless she bear a child previously. If however she bear a child previously, it is the child's name that is divided there; and if there be a letter over, it is a boy. If it be an even number, it would be
488-595: A record of property. Conogam/Dog Ogham : "Watch-dog for group B, one watch-dog, two, three, four, five watch-dogs ( for B, L, F, S, N);Greyhound for group H, one greyhound, two, three, four, five greyhounds (for H, D, T, C, Q); Herd's dog for group M, one herd's dog, two, three etc.; Lapdog for group A, one lapdog, two, etc." This list also has a numerical element. Bo-ogam/Cow Ogham : "Milch cow for group B, one milch cow, two, three, etc.; Stripper for group H, one stripper, two, etc.; Three-year-old heifer for group M; Yearling heifer for group A." This list also seems to involve
549-463: A series of squares. Ferchertne was a famous mythical poet of ancient Ireland who epitomised the excellence of the poet's craft. He was credited with writing part of the Scholar's Primer dealing with poetry. According to Ó hÓgáin, so great were Ferchertne's poetic powers that it was said that 'the lakes and rivers drain before him when he satirises, and they rise up when he praises them'. Perhaps this explains
610-454: A sound / h / and a letter h , there is no consistent relationship between the two. Vowel-initial words are sometimes written with an unpronounced h , especially if they are very short (the Old Irish preposition i "in" was sometimes written hi ) or if they need to be emphasised (the name of Ireland, Ériu , was sometimes written Hériu ). On the other hand, words that begin with
671-436: A wavy line is drawn which weaves above and below the letters like a snake. No. 73 Ogam Airenach/ Shield Ogham : No. 74 Rothogam Roigni Roscadhaig/Wheel Ogham of Roigne Roscadach : The name Roigne Roscadach means 'Choicest Rhetoric' so again there is a link with poetry. This ogham looks like a wooden wheel or shield, with the letter c repeated to look like bosses or pegs. No. 75 Fege Find/Fionn's Window : This variety has
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#1732852474977732-512: Is a word list similar to the ones for birds, colours etc. Thus: Bachlaid (Priests), Laichesa (Heroines), Fianna (Warriors), Senada (Synods), Noeim (Saints) and so on. The author did not go beyond the first five letters. No. 91 Ogam Lochlannach/Scandinavian Ogam Old Irish Old Irish , also called Old Gaelic ( Old Irish : Goídelc , Ogham script : ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; Irish : Sean-Ghaeilge ; Scottish Gaelic : Seann-Ghàidhlig ; Manx : Shenn Yernish or Shenn Ghaelg ),
793-426: Is forebear to Modern Irish , Manx and Scottish Gaelic . Old Irish is known for having a particularly complex system of morphology and especially of allomorphy (more or less unpredictable variations in stems and suffixes in differing circumstances), as well as a complex sound system involving grammatically significant consonant mutations to the initial consonant of a word. Apparently, neither characteristic
854-475: Is given. Cend a muine/Head in Bush : This involves writing a letter to stand in for the whole letter name at the beginning of a word when possible e.g., to write simply CLE for certle or 'ball of thread'. Cend fo muine/Head under bush : This is the opposite of the above, where the letter stands in for the name at the end of a word e.g. MAELR for Maelruis The following are some of the more interesting examples of
915-485: Is known as Primitive Irish . Fragments of Primitive Irish, mainly personal names, are known from inscriptions on stone written in the Ogham alphabet. The inscriptions date from about the 4th to the 6th centuries. Primitive Irish appears to have been very close to Common Celtic , the ancestor of all Celtic languages , and it had a lot of the characteristics of other archaic Indo-European languages. Relatively little survives in
976-431: Is subject to u -affection, becoming ⟨éu⟩ or ⟨íu⟩ , while /e₁ː/ is not. A similar distinction may have existed between /o₁ː/ and /o₂ː/ , both written ⟨ó⟩ , and stemming respectively from former diphthongs (*eu, *au, *ou) and from compensatory lengthening. However, in later Old Irish both sounds appear usually as ⟨úa⟩ , sometimes as ⟨ó⟩ , and it
1037-456: Is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from c. 600 to c. 900. The main contemporary texts are dated c. 700–850; by 900 the language had already transitioned into early Middle Irish . Some Old Irish texts date from the 10th century, although these are presumably copies of texts written at an earlier time. Old Irish
1098-594: Is unclear whether /o₂ː/ existed as a separate sound any time in the Old Irish period. /ou/ existed only in early archaic Old Irish ( c. 700 or earlier); afterwards it merged into /au/ . Neither sound occurred before another consonant, and both sounds became ⟨ó⟩ in later Old Irish (often ⟨ú⟩ or ⟨u⟩ before another vowel). The late ⟨ó⟩ does not develop into ⟨úa⟩ , suggesting that ⟨áu⟩ > ⟨ó⟩ postdated ⟨ó⟩ > ⟨úa⟩ . Later Old Irish had
1159-611: The Auraicept na n-Éces (2813f.) as amal isber in leapar ogaim , whence the commonly used title. The Ogham Tract is independent of the Auraicept , and is our main source for the Bríatharogaim . The Ogham Tract also gives a variety of some 100 "scales" of variant or secret modes of writing ogham (92 in the Book of Ballymote ), for example the "shield ogham" ( ogam airenach , nr. 73). Even
1220-614: The Stowe Missal date from about 900 to 1050. In addition to contemporary witnesses, the vast majority of Old Irish texts are attested in manuscripts of a variety of later dates. Manuscripts of the later Middle Irish period, such as the Lebor na hUidre and the Book of Leinster , contain texts which are thought to derive from written exemplars in Old Irish now lost and retain enough of their original form to merit classification as Old Irish. The preservation of certain linguistic forms current in
1281-559: The eclipsis consonants also denoted with a superdot: Old Irish digraphs include the lenition consonants: the eclipsis consonants: the geminatives : and the diphthongs : The following table indicates the broad pronunciation of various consonant letters in various environments: When the consonants b, d, g are eclipsed by the preceding word (always from a word-initial position), their spelling and pronunciation change to: ⟨mb⟩ / m / , ⟨nd⟩ /N/ , ⟨ng⟩ / ŋ / Generally, geminating
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#17328524749771342-816: The Würzburg Glosses (mainly) on the Pauline Epistles , the Milan Glosses on a commentary to the Psalms and the St Gall Glosses on Priscian 's Grammar. Further examples are found at Karlsruhe (Germany), Paris (France), Milan, Florence and Turin (Italy). A late 9th-century manuscript from the abbey of Reichenau , now in St. Paul in Carinthia (Austria), contains a spell and four Old Irish poems. The Liber Hymnorum and
1403-573: The Younger Futhark are introduced as "Viking ogham" (nrs. 91, 92). Some of these are word lists based on the alphabet, and some seem to involve a numerical system of tallying. Most however, are simply variations on ways of writing the alphabet. They are examined for their significance by Macalister (1937) and by McManus (§7.11, 1991). The training of the Gaelic poet or file involved learning one hundred and fifty varieties of ogham – fifty in each of
1464-464: The orthography of Old Irish is not fixed, so the following statements are to be taken as generalisations only. Individual manuscripts may vary greatly from these guidelines. The Old Irish alphabet consists of the following eighteen letters of the Latin alphabet : in addition to the five long vowels , shown by an acute accent (´): the lenited consonants denoted with a superdot (◌̇): and
1525-518: The Continent were much less prone to the same risk because once they ceased to be understood, they were rarely consulted. The earliest Old Irish passages may be the transcripts found in the Cambrai Homily , which is thought to belong to the early 8th century. The Book of Armagh contains texts from the early 9th century. Important Continental collections of glosses from the 8th and 9th century include
1586-484: The Old Irish period may provide reason to assume that an Old Irish original directly or indirectly underlies the transmitted text or texts. The consonant inventory of Old Irish is shown in the chart below. The complexity of Old Irish phonology is from a four-way split of phonemes inherited from Primitive Irish, with both a fortis–lenis and a "broad–slender" ( velarised vs. palatalised ) distinction arising from historical changes. The sounds /f v θ ð x ɣ h ṽ n l r/ are
1647-465: The Old Irish period, but the short vowels changed much less. The following short vowels existed: The short diphthong ŏu likely existed very early in the Old Irish period, but merged with /u/ later on and in many instances was replaced with /o/ due to paradigmatic levelling. It is attested once in the phrase i r ou th by the prima manus of the Würzburg Glosses . /æ ~ œ/ arose from
1708-426: The alphabets are lists of this kind. No. 32 Ogam Dedanach/ Final Ogham : The last letter of the name (of the letter) is written instead of the letter i.e. E for B, S for L, N for F, L for S, N for N and so on. This is a form of the alphabet intended for use as a code. No. 33. Cend ar Nuaill/ Head on Proscription : The last letter of every group is written for the first letter, and the first letter of every group for
1769-498: The broad lenis equivalents of broad fortis /p b t d k ɡ s m N L R/ ; likewise for the slender (palatalised) equivalents. (However, most /f fʲ/ sounds actually derive historically from /w/ , since /p/ was relatively rare in Old Irish, being a recent import from other languages such as Latin.) Some details of Old Irish phonetics are not known. /sʲ/ may have been pronounced [ɕ] or [ʃ] , as in Modern Irish. /hʲ/ may have been
1830-471: The case cannot be proved one way or another. No. 11 Runogam na fian/Secret ogam of warriors No. 14 Ogam Bricrenn /Ogham of Bricrenn This follows the principle of one dot for B . two dots for L .. three dots for F ... and so on right up to twenty dots for I. A short composition then appears in this rather laborious system. Macalister could make neither head nor tail of it, and declared it to be an ancient fragment of druidic lore. However, Meroney re-examined
1891-554: The complicated Proto-Indo-European (PIE) system of morphology. Nouns and adjectives are declined in three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter); three numbers (singular, dual, plural); and five cases (nominative, vocative, accusative, dative and genitive). Most PIE noun stem classes are maintained ( o -, yo -, ā -, yā -, i -, u -, r -, n -, s -, and consonant stems). Most of the complexities of PIE verbal conjugation are also maintained, and there are new complexities introduced by various sound changes (see below ). Old Irish
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1952-420: The cryptic ogham varieties (numbering as per Calder): No. 1 Aradach Fionn/Fionn's Ladder : In this variety each letter has its own vertical stemline. This form of Ogham inspired the theory that Ogham was first invented as a means of musical notation. According to Sean O'Boyle in his book 'Ogam: The Poet's Secret', Fionn's Ladder could be used as a fingering notation, a tablature to guide the player's hand through
2013-468: The deletion (syncope) of inner syllables. Rather, they originate in one of the following ways: Stress is generally on the first syllable of a word. However, in verbs it occurs on the second syllable when the first syllable is a clitic (the verbal prefix as- in as·beir /asˈberʲ/ "he says"). In such cases, the unstressed prefix is indicated in grammatical works with a following centre dot ( ⟨·⟩ ). As with most medieval languages ,
2074-411: The end of it as needed for the letter. It is very similar to no. 51, except that the strokes are put at the end of the score. No. 19 Crad Cride Ecis/ Anguish of a Poet's Heart : This variety involves a rectangular figure laid against the stemline in the appropriate manner for the aicme , with as many projecting scores from its top as needed for the letter. It is hard to see what makes this alphabet more
2135-446: The first letter of the group, two for the second letter, till it would reach five for the fifth letter of whichever group it be." Sronogam/Nose-ogam : This is the same as foot-ogam except the nose is used instead of the leg. "The fingers of the hands about the nose viz, similiter to right and left, athwart, across. Basogam/palm of hand ogam : manus aliam percutit lignorum . i.e. 'palm of hand variously strikes wood'. No other detail
2196-506: The first three years of study, and it is clear that most of these are the varieties given in the Ogham Tract (McManus § 7.13, 1991). Macalister sees them as evidence of ogham's cryptic nature, and as serious examples of how the alphabet was used for secret communication. According to McManus, however, the practical benefits of the alphabets are not so clear. The word lists at least may have provided access to an extensive vocabulary classified in
2257-433: The following consonant (in certain clusters) or a directly following vowel in hiatus . It is generally thought that /e₁ː/ was higher than /e₂ː/ . Perhaps /e₁ː/ was [eː] while /e₂ː/ was [ɛː] . They are clearly distinguished in later Old Irish, in which /e₁ː/ becomes ⟨ía⟩ (but ⟨é⟩ before a palatal consonant). /e₂ː/ becomes ⟨é⟩ in all circumstances. Furthermore, /e₂ː/
2318-470: The following inventory of long vowels: Early Old Irish /ai/ and /oi/ merged in later Old Irish. It is unclear what the resulting sound was, as scribes continued to use both ⟨aí⟩ and ⟨oí⟩ to indicate the merged sound. The choice of /oi/ in the table above is somewhat arbitrary. The distribution of short vowels in unstressed syllables is a little complicated. All short vowels may appear in absolutely final position (at
2379-663: The former were trills while the latter were flaps . /m(ʲ)/ and /ṽ(ʲ)/ were derived from an original fortis–lenis pair. Old Irish had distinctive vowel length in both monophthongs and diphthongs . Short diphthongs were monomoraic , taking up the same amount of time as short vowels, while long diphthongs were bimoraic, the same as long vowels. (This is much like the situation in Old English but different from Ancient Greek whose shorter and longer diphthongs were bimoraic and trimoraic, respectively: /ai/ vs. /aːi/ .) The inventory of Old Irish long vowels changed significantly over
2440-407: The group i.e. D, one to five times for each of the letters, and so on. Perhaps the intriguing name of this alphabet stems from the frustration of the reader trying to make sense of anything written in it! No. 40 Brec Mor/ Great Dotting : This variety involves a single score against the stemline in the appropriate manner for the aicme , followed by as many dots less one as there are scores needed for
2501-414: The last letter, i.e. N for B, and B for N, and every letter for its fellow in the whole group, i.e. L for S and S for L and so on. Many of the alphabets are variations on this theme of swapping the value of the letters around. No. 35 Ogam Buaidir Foranna/ Ogham of Uproar of Anger : For Group B, the first letter of the group i.e. B, one to five times for each of the letters; for Group H, the second letter of
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2562-422: The letter h ⟨fh⟩ , ⟨sh⟩ , instead of using a superdot ⟨ḟ⟩ , ⟨ṡ⟩ . When initial s stemmed from Primitive Irish *sw- , its lenited version is ⟨f⟩ [ ɸ ] . The slender ( palatalised ) variants of the 13 consonants are denoted with / ʲ / marking the letter. They occur in the following environments: Although Old Irish has both
2623-410: The letter, e.g. the letter F has one score beneath the stemline, followed by two dots. No. 51 Ogam Dedad/Ogham of Dedu : This variety involves a single score against the stemline in the appropriate manner for the aicme with as many short horizontal lines running out of its right side as there are scores needed for the letter. It is very similar to No. 17, except that the lines are put in the centre of
2684-1913: The mind in the use of words and concepts. A number of word lists, where each letter has an accompanying word, are included in the tract. Macalister regarded these as being used for talking in code, while McManus saw them as simply being a useful way of making lists for classification purposes. The following are some examples: Enogam/Bird-ogam : besan 'pheasant', lachu 'duck', faelinn 'gull', seg 'hawk', naescu 'snipe', hadaig 'night raven'?, droen 'wren', truith 'starling', querc 'hen', mintan 'titmouse', géis 'swan', ngéigh 'goose', stmólach 'thrush', rócnat 'small rook', aidhircleog 'lapwing', odoroscrach 'scrat'?, uiseog 'lark', ela 'swan', illait 'eaglet'". Dathogam/Colour-ogam : bán 'white', liath 'grey', flann 'red', sodath 'fine-coloured', necht 'clear', huath 'terrible', dub 'black', temen 'dark grey', cron 'brown', quiar 'mouse-coloured', mbracht 'variegated', gorm 'blue', nglas 'green', sorcha 'bright', ruadh 'red', alad 'piebald', odhar 'dun', usgdha 'resinous', erc 'red', irfind 'very white'. Ogam tirda/Agricultural ogam : biail 'axe', loman 'rope', fidba 'hedge-bill', srathar 'pack-saddle', nasc 'ring', huartan ?, dabach 'cask', tal 'adze', carr 'waggon', cual 'faggot', machad ?, gat 'with', ngend 'wedge', sust 'flail', rusc 'basket', arathar 'plough', ord 'hammer', usca 'heather-brush', epit 'billhook', indeoin 'anvil'. Ogam Uisceach/Water Ogam : "Rivulet for group B, to wit one rivulet for B, five for N; Weir for group H, one weir, two, three, four, five weirs (for B, L, F, S, N); River for group M, one river, two, three, four, five rivers (H, D, T, C, Q); Well for group A, one well, two, three, four, five well (for A, O, U, E, I). This list seems to involve counting or tallying and so may have been used in some way as
2745-418: The name 'Strand Stream' which can also be read as the 'Ebb Stream of Ferchertne'. No. 83 Traig Sruth Ferchertne /Strand Stream of Ferchertne : This alphabet has the same name as No. 76 above and is followed by a verse addressed to Nere, the quintessential judge of Irish Poets. McManus provides the following translation from the original Irish which is very obscure: No. 88 Ogam Cuidechtach/Company Ogam : This
2806-401: The novelty of arranging the letters attractively in a series of circles. The word fege also means a ridgepole used to hold up a house. Perhaps the alphabet is meant to invoke the image of a circular Iron Age house. The alphabet is named after the great Gaelic warrior of legend Fionn mac Cumhaill . No. 76 Traig Sruth Ferchertne/Strand Stream of Ferchertne : This time the letters are arranged in
2867-419: The range of the harp. O'Boyle's case has been examined from a musicological standpoint by Máire Egan (1983). While it is certain that Ogham was first designed as a system of writing and not for recording music; it is still possible that Ogham could have been used for musical notation after its invention. However, according to Egan, the lack of evidence of how exactly the traditional Irish harp was played means that
2928-542: The same sound as /h/ or /xʲ/ . The precise articulation of the fortis sonorants /N/, /Nʲ/, /L/, /Lʲ/, /R/, /Rʲ/ is unknown, but they were probably longer, tenser and generally more strongly articulated than their lenis counterparts /n/, /nʲ/, /l/, /lʲ/, /r/, /rʲ/ , as in the Modern Irish and Scottish dialects that still possess a four-way distinction in the coronal nasals and laterals . /Nʲ/ and /Lʲ/ may have been pronounced [ɲ] and [ʎ] respectively. The difference between /R(ʲ)/ and /r(ʲ)/ may have been that
2989-466: The score. The Dedu (Clanna Dedad) is another name for the Érainn , the tribal grouping which gave their name to Ireland. No. 63 Ogam Erimon/Ogham of Erimon : In this variety there are angles or 'V' shapes, against the stemline in the appropriate manner for the aicme , with one laid on top of another from one to five as needed. This alphabet is named after Erimon, son of Mil, leader of the Milesians. He
3050-408: The sound /h/ are usually written without it: a ór /a hoːr/ "her gold". If the sound and the spelling co-occur , it is by coincidence, as ní hed /Nʲiː heð/ "it is not". The voiceless stops of Old Irish are c, p, t . They contrast with the voiced stops g, b, d . Additionally, the letter m can behave similarly to a stop following vowels. These seven consonants often mutate when not in
3111-513: The stressed prefix air- (from Proto-Celtic *ɸare ). Archaic Old Irish (before about 750) had the following inventory of long vowels: Both /e₁ː/ and /e₂ː/ were normally written ⟨é⟩ but must have been pronounced differently because they have different origins and distinct outcomes in later Old Irish. /e₁ː/ stems from Proto-Celtic *ē (< PIE *ei), or from ē in words borrowed from Latin. /e₂ː/ generally stems from compensatory lengthening of short *e because of loss of
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#17328524749773172-755: The tally system and so have been used as a record of cattle ownership. (A "stripper" is a cow at the end of her lactation, giving little milk.) Danogam/Art-ogam : bethumnacht 'livelihood', luamnacht 'pilotage', filideacht 'poetry', sairsi 'handicraft', notaireacht 'notary work', H-airchetul 'trisyllabic poetry', druidheacht 'wizardry', tornoracht 'turning', cruitireacht 'harping', quislenacht 'fluting', milaideacht 'soldiering', gaibneacht 'smithwork', ngibae 'modelling', sreghuindeacht 'deer-stalking', ronnaireacht 'dispensing', airigeacht 'sovereignty', ogmoracht 'harvesting', umaideacht 'brasswork', enaireacht 'fowling', iascaireacht no ibroracht 'fishing or yew-wood work'. The tract also contains
3233-518: The u-infection of stressed /a/ by a /u/ that preceded a palatalized consonant. This vowel faced much inconsistency in spelling, often detectable by a word containing it being variably spelled with ⟨au, ai, e, i, u⟩ across attestations. Tulach "hill, mound" is the most commonly cited example of this vowel, with the spelling of its inflections including tulach itself, telaig , telocho , tilchaib , taulich and tailaig . This special vowel also ran rampant in many words starting with
3294-495: The verse and found it to be a ditty about a poet bemoaning his poor choice of affordable drink! 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. No. 17 Ogam adlenfid/Letter Rack Ogham : This variety involves a single score against the stemline in the manner of the appropriate aicme , with as many horizontal strokes at
3355-431: The very end of a word) after both broad and slender consonants. The front vowels /e/ and /i/ are often spelled ⟨ae⟩ and ⟨ai⟩ after broad consonants, which might indicate a retracted pronunciation here, perhaps something like [ɘ] and [ɨ] . All ten possibilities are shown in the following examples: The distribution of short vowels in unstressed syllables, other than when absolutely final,
3416-552: The way of strictly contemporary sources. They are represented mainly by shorter or longer glosses on the margins or between the lines of religious Latin manuscripts , most of them preserved in monasteries in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France and Austria, having been taken there by early Irish missionaries . Whereas in Ireland, many of the older manuscripts appear to have been worn out through extended and heavy use, their counterparts on
3477-567: The word-initial position. In non-initial positions, the single-letter voiceless stops c, p, and t become the voiced stops / ɡ / , / b / , and / d / respectively unless they are written double. Ambiguity in these letters' pronunciations arises when a single consonant follows an l, n, or r . The lenited stops ch, ph, and th become / x / , / f / , and / θ / respectively. The voiced stops b, d, and g become fricative / v / , / ð / , and / ɣ / , respectively—identical sounds to their word-initial lenitions. In non-initial positions,
3538-519: Was present in the preceding Primitive Irish period, though initial mutations likely existed in a non-grammaticalised form in the prehistoric era. Contemporary Old Irish scholarship is still greatly influenced by the works of a small number of scholars active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Rudolf Thurneysen (1857–1940) and Osborn Bergin (1873–1950). Notable characteristics of Old Irish compared with other old Indo-European languages , are: Old Irish also preserves most aspects of
3599-482: Was quite restricted. It is usually thought that there were only two allowed phonemes: /ə/ (written ⟨a, ai, e, i⟩ depending on the quality of surrounding consonants) and /u/ (written ⟨u⟩ or ⟨o⟩ ). The phoneme /u/ tended to occur when the following syllable contained an *ū in Proto-Celtic (for example, dligud /ˈdʲlʲiɣ u ð/ "law" (dat.) < PC * dligedū ), or after
3660-436: Was the first king to rule all of Ireland after the arrival of the Milesians, and was regarded as the ancestor of the Gaelic people. No. 64 Ogam Snaithi Snimach/ Ogham of Interwoven Thread : In this variety, instead of strokes there are 'X' shapes, with one laid on top of another from one to five in a similar manner to the symbol for the forfid Emancholl . No. 66 Nathair fria Fraech/ Snake through Heather : In this alphabet
3721-560: Was the only known member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages , which is, in turn, a subfamily of the wider Indo-European language family that also includes the Slavonic , Italic / Romance , Indo-Aryan and Germanic subfamilies, along with several others. Old Irish is the ancestor of all modern Goidelic languages: Modern Irish , Scottish Gaelic and Manx . A still older form of Irish
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