View source for Iodhadh

{{Short description|25th letter of the Ogham alphabet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Contains special characters|Ogham}}
{{Table Oghamletters}}

'''{{lang|ga|Iodhadh}}''' is the [[Irish language|Irish]] name of the twentieth letter of the [[Ogham]] alphabet, <big>ᚔ</big>. In [[Old Irish]], the letter name was '''{{lang|sga|idad}}'''. Its phonetic value is [i]. The original meaning of the letter name is uncertain, but it is likely an artificially altered pair with  {{lang|ga|[[eadhadh (letter)|edad]]}}, much like [[Gothic language|Gothic]] {{lang|got-Latn|[[peordh|pairþra, qairþra]]}}, and may refer to "[[Taxus baccata|yew]]".

==Interpretation==
The medieval glossators all assign "[[Taxus baccata|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 [[Old Irish]] word that gave the letter its value of "yew", as the cognate [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''efwr'' and [[Gallo-Roman]] ''eburos'' point to a [[Primitive Irish]] ''*eburas,'' and ''ibar'' was used (with qualifiers) to refer to a whole range of evergreen shrubs''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/M%C3%A9langes_Lambert|title=Mélanges en l'honneur de Pierre-Yves Lambert|last=Schrijver|first=Peter|publisher=TIR|year=2015|editor-last=Oudaer|editor-first=Guillaume|location=Rennes|pages=65–76|chapter=The meaning of Celtic *eburos|editor-last2=Hily|editor-first2=Gaël|editor-last3=Le Bihan|editor-first3=Hervé}}</ref>''

It is more likely that the [[Old Irish]] word that gave the letter its ascribed meaning was ''éo,'' from the [[Primitive Irish]] ''*iwas'' (cf. [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''ywen'', [[Gaulish]] ''ivo-'', [[Proto-Indo-European]] ''*iwo-'' "yew"). McManus suggests that the original letter names for ''edad'' and ''idad'' were likely *''eburas'' (or *''esox'') and *''iwas'', hence their values [e] and [i] respectively, with confusion arising in the medieval period as the language evolved.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McManus|first=Damian|date=1988|title=Irish Letter-Names and Their Kennings|journal=Ériu|volume=39|pages=127–168|jstor=30024135}}</ref>

==Bríatharogam==
In the medieval kennings, called ''[[Bríatharogam|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''.<ref>[[Auraicept na n-Éces]] Calder, George, Edinburgh, John Grant (1917), reprint Four Courts Press (1995), {{ISBN|1-85182-181-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=A guide to Ogam|last=McManus, Damian.|date=1991|publisher=An Sagart|isbn=1-870684-17-6|location=Maynooth|oclc=24181838}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Ogham letters]]