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| '''Ogham''' was an ] that was used in fifth-century Ireland. Based on the ], Ogham had 25 letters and was carved and read from bottom to top (or occasionally, right to left). It was supposedly inspired by Ogma, god of eloquence. | '''Ogham''', also spelled '''Ogam''', was an ] that was used in fifth-century Ireland. Based on the ], Ogham had 25 letters and was carved and read from bottom to top (or occasionally, right to left). It was supposedly inspired by Ogma, god of eloquence. | ||
| {{msg:Table_Oghamletters}} | {{msg:Table_Oghamletters}} | ||
| It is probable that Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was widely written in wood in early times. The main flowering of the use of "classical" Ogham in stone seems to be 5th-6th century CE. Monumental Ogham inscriptions are found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, and the Isle of Man, mainly employed as territorial markers and memorials. The more ancient examples are standing stones, script being carved into the edge (''droim'' or ''faobhar'') of the stone, which forms a stemline against which individual characters are cut. Text is read beginning from the bottom left-hand side of a stone, continuing upward, across the top and down the right-hand side in the case of long inscriptions. Inscriptions written on stemlines cut into the face of the stone, instead of along its edge, are known as "scholastic", and are of a later date (post 7th century). Notes were also commonly written in Ogham in manuscripts down to the sixteenth century. | It is probable that Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was widely written in wood in early times. The main flowering of the use of "classical" Ogham in stone seems to be 5th-6th century CE. Monumental Ogham inscriptions are found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, and the Isle of Man, mainly employed as territorial markers and memorials. The more ancient examples are standing stones, script being carved into the edge (''droim'' or ''faobhar'') of the stone, which forms a stemline against which individual characters are cut. Text is read beginning from the bottom left-hand side of a stone, continuing upward, across the top and down the right-hand side in the case of long inscriptions. Inscriptions written on stemlines cut into the face of the stone, instead of along its edge, are known as "scholastic", and are of a later date (post 7th century). Notes were also commonly written in Ogham in manuscripts down to the sixteenth century. | ||
Revision as of 14:31, 12 August 2004
Ogham, also spelled Ogam, was an alphabet that was used in fifth-century Ireland. Based on the Latin alphabet, Ogham had 25 letters and was carved and read from bottom to top (or occasionally, right to left). It was supposedly inspired by Ogma, god of eloquence.
| Ogham letters ᚛ᚑᚌᚐᚋᚁᚂᚃᚓᚇᚐᚅ᚜ | |||||
| Aicme Beithe ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚁᚂᚃᚄᚅ᚜ |
Aicme Muine ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚋᚌᚎᚏ᚜ | ||||
| ᚁ | Beith | ᚋ | Muin | ||
| ᚂ | Luis | ᚌ | Gort | ||
| ᚃ | Fearn | ᚍ | nGéadal | ||
| ᚄ | Sail | ᚎ | , , | Straif | |
| ᚅ | Nion | ᚏ | Ruis | ||
| Aicme hÚatha ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚆᚇᚈᚉᚊ᚜ |
Aicme Ailme ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚐᚑᚒᚓᚔ᚜ | ||||
| ᚆ | Uath | ᚐ | Ailm | ||
| ᚇ | Dair | ᚑ | Onn | ||
| ᚈ | Tinne | ᚒ | Úr | ||
| ᚉ | Coll | ᚓ | Eadhadh | ||
| ᚊ | Ceirt | ᚔ | Iodhadh | ||
| Forfeda ᚛ᚃᚑᚏᚃᚓᚇᚐ᚜ | |||||
| ᚕ | , , , | Éabhadh | |||
| ᚖ | Ór | ||||
| ᚗ | Uilleann | ||||
| ᚘ | Ifín | ||||
| ᚙ | , | Eamhancholl | |||
| ᚚ | Peith | ||||
It is probable that Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was widely written in wood in early times. The main flowering of the use of "classical" Ogham in stone seems to be 5th-6th century CE. Monumental Ogham inscriptions are found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, and the Isle of Man, mainly employed as territorial markers and memorials. The more ancient examples are standing stones, script being carved into the edge (droim or faobhar) of the stone, which forms a stemline against which individual characters are cut. Text is read beginning from the bottom left-hand side of a stone, continuing upward, across the top and down the right-hand side in the case of long inscriptions. Inscriptions written on stemlines cut into the face of the stone, instead of along its edge, are known as "scholastic", and are of a later date (post 7th century). Notes were also commonly written in Ogham in manuscripts down to the sixteenth century.
The Ogham alphabet consists of twenty-five distinct characters (feda), the first twenty of which are considered to be primary, the last five (forfeda) supplementary. The four primary series are called aicmí (plural of aicme 'family'). Each aicme was named after its first character (Aicme Beithe, Aicme hÚatha, Aicme Muine, Aicme Ailme, 'the B Group', 'the H Group', 'the M Group', 'the A Group'). Some of the names and all of the values of the forfeda are open to question.
Curtis Clark has more information about Ogham on his website. He has also developed an Ogham font. http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/ogham/index.html