Bríatharogam

In Early Irish literature a "Bríatharogam" ("word ogham", plural "Bríatharogaim") is a two word kenning which explains the meanings of the names of the letters of the Ogham alphabet. Three variant lists of "bríatharogaim" or 'word-oghams' have been preserved, dating to the Old Irish period. They are as follows:
*"Bríatharogam Morainn mac Moín"
*"Bríatharogam Maic ind Óc"
*"Bríatharogam Con Culainn"

The first two of these are attested from all three surviving copies of the "Ogam Tract", while the "Cu Chulainn" version is not in the Book of Ballymote and only known from 16th and 17th century manuscripts. The "Auraicept na n-Éces" or 'Scholars' Primer' reports and interprets the "Bríatharogam Morainn mac Moín".

Later Medieval scholars believed that all of the letter names were those of trees, and attempted to explain the "bríatharogaim" in that light. However, modern scholarship has shown that only eight at most of the letter names are those of trees, and that the word-oghams or kennings themselves support this. The kennings as edited (in normalized Old Irish) and translated by McManus (1988) are as follows:

*beithe means "birch-tree", cognate to Latin "betula". The kenning in the Auraicept is
*:"Feocos foltchain in beithi" "of withered trunk fairhaired the birch"
*luis is either related to "luise" "blaze" or "lus" "herb". The kenning
*:"Li sula luis (.i. caertheand) ar ailleacht a caer" " [delightful] for eye is "luis" (i.e. rowan) owing to the beauty of its berries":the kenning "for the eye is "luis" would support a meaning of "blaze".
*fern means "alder-tree", Primitive Irish "*wernā", so that the original value of the letter was [w] . The kenning is
*:"Airenach Fiann (.i. fernd) air is di na sgeith" "the van of the warrior-bands (i.e. alder), for thereof are the shields"
*sail means "willow-tree", cognate to Latin "salix", with the kenning
*:"Li ambi .i. nemli lais .i. ar cosmaillius a datha fri marb" "the colour of a lifeless one, i.e. it has no colour, i.e. owing to the resemblance of its hue of a dead person"
*nin means either "fork" or "loft". The Auraicept glosses it as "uinnius" "ash-tree",:"cosdad sida nin .i. uinnius, ar is di doniter craind gae triasa" "A check on peace is "nin" (i.e. ash), for of it are made spear-shafts by which the peace is broken"
*úath is unattested in inscriptions. The kenning "a meet of hounds is "huath" identifies the name as "úath" "horror, fear", although the Auraicept glosses "white-thorn":
*:"comdal cuan huath (.i. sce L. om); no ar is uathmar hi ara deilghibh" "a meet of hounds is "huath" (i.e. white-thorn); or because it is formidable ("uathmar") for its thorns.":The original etymology of the name, and the letter's value, are however unclear. McManus (1986) suggested a value [y] . Linguist Peter Schrijver suggested that if "úath" "fear" is cognate with Latin "pavere", a trace of PIE "*p" might have survived into Primitive Irish, but there is no independent evidence for this. (see McManus 1991:37)
*dair means "oak" (PIE "*doru-").
*:"arirde dossaib duir" "higher than bushes is an oak"
*tinne from the evidence of the kennings means "bar of metal, ingot". The Auraicept equates it with "holly"
*:"trian roith tindi L .i. ar is cuileand in tres fidh roith in carbait" "a third of a wheel is "tinne", that is, because holly is one of the three timbers of the chariot-wheel":the word is probably cognate to Old Irish "tend" "strong" or "tind" "brilliant".
*coll meant "hazel-tree", cognate with Welsh "collen", correctly glossed as "cainfidh" "fair-wood" ("hazel"),
*:"coll .i. cach ac ithi a chno " "coll, i.e. every one is eating from its nuts"
*cert is cognate with Welsh "pert" "bush" , Latin "quercus" "oak" (PIE "*perkwos"). It was confused with Old Irish "ceirt" "rag", reflected in the kennings. The Auraicept glosses "aball" "apple",
*:"clithar boaiscille .i. elit gelt quert (.i. aball)" "shelter of a "boiscill", i.e. a wild hind is "queirt", i.e. an apple tree"
*muin: the kennings connect this name to three different words, "muin" "neck, upper part of the back", "muin" "wile, ruse", and "muin" "love, esteem". The Auraicept glosses "finemhain" "vine", with a kenning consistent with "love":
*:"airdi masi muin .i. iarsinni fhasas a n-airde .i. finemhain" "highest of beauty is "min", i.e. because it grows aloft, i.e. a vine-tree"
*gort means "field" (cognate to "garden"). The Auraicept glosses "ivy":
*:"glaisiu geltaibh gort (.i. edind)" "greener than pastures is "gort" (i.e. "ivy")."
*gétal from the kennings has a meaning of "killing", maybe cognate to "gonid" "slays", from PIE "PIE|gwen-". The value of the letter in Primitive Irish, then, was a voiced labiovelar, [g^w] . The Auraicept glosses "cilcach", "broom" or "fern":
*:"luth lega getal (.i. cilcach) no raith" "a physician's strength is "getal" (i.e. broom)."
*straiph means "sulphur". The Primitive Irish letter value is uncertain, it may have been a sibilant different from "s", which is taken by "sail", maybe a reflex of /st/ or /sw/. The Auraicept glosses "draighin" "blackthorn":
*:"aire srabha sraibh (.i. draighin)" "the hedge of a stream is "sraibh" (i.e. blackthorn)."
*ruis means "red" or "redness", glossed as "trom" "elder":
*:"ruamma ruice ruis (.i. trom)" "the redness of shame is ruis (i.e. elder)"
*ailm is of uncertain meaning, possibly "pine-tree". The Auraicept has "crand giuis .i. ochtach", "fir-tree" or "pinetree"
*onn means "ash-tree", although the Auraicept glosses "aiten" "furze",
*úr, based on the kennings, means "earth, clay, soil". The Auraicept glosses "fraech" "heath".
*edad and idhad are paired names of unknown meaning, although "idhad" may be a form of 'yew-tree', altered to make a pairing. The Auraicept glosses them as "ed uath .i. crand fir no crithach" "horrible grief, i.e. test-tree or aspen", and "ibhar" "yew", respectively.

Of the "forfeda", four are glossed by the Auraicept, "ebhadh" with "crithach" "aspen", "oir" with "feorus no edind" "spindle-tree or ivy", "uilleand" with "edleand" "honeysuckle", and "iphin" with "spinan no ispin" "gooseberry or thorn".

References

*Damian McManus, "Irish letter-names and their kennings", Ériu 39 (1988), 127-168.