Ailm
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2006-11-28T22:25:14Z
Angusmclellan
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add a (red for the moment) wikilink
{{Table Oghamletters}}
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'''Ailm''' is the [[Irish language|Irish]] name of the twentieth letter of the [[Ogham]] alphabet, {{Unicode|ᚐ}}. Its phonetic value is [a]. The "Tree Alphabet" glossators identify it with the [[pine]]. The original meaning of the name is unknown. The [[Bríatharogam]] kennings all refer to the sound [a] and not to the name, either as the sound of a "groan", or to the Irish vocative particle, ''á''. [[Rudolf Thurneysen|Thurneysen]] maintained that ''Ailm'', ''[[Beithe]]'' was influenced by ''[[Alpha]], [[Beta (letter)|Beta]]'', but while ''beithe'' is an actual Irish word, ''ailm'' would have to be considered the only loaned letter name. The word is attested once outside a context of the Ogham alphabet, in the poem "King Henry and the Hermit",
:''caine ailmi ardom-peitet''
which translates to
:Beautiful are the pines which make music for me
Here the poet is most likely directly influenced by the "Tree Alphabet" manuscript tradition.
==References==
*Damian McManus, ''Irish letter-names and their kennings'', Ériu 39 (1988), 127-168.
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[[Category:Ogham letters]]