Is there a Celtic alphabet?
The Gaelic Written Alphabet today (an aibítir) Today people write and type Irish Gaelic with the standard Latin alphabet. The Irish alphabet uses 24 of the 26 letters of the English alphabet, as opposed to the original number of 18.
What is ancient Celtic alphabet?
Ogham (OH-am) is an ancient alphabet used to write Old Irish and other Brythonic/Brittonic languages (such as Pictish, Welsh) from about the 3rd century CE. The Ogham alphabet is sometimes called the ‘Celtic Tree Alphabet’ as each letter is assigned a tree or plant name.
How do you read the Ogham alphabet?
Each character is formed by a series of strokes. We read these from the bottom to the top along the central line. Primarily found in Ireland and Western Wales, each letter is associated with a tree or plant. Ogham is believed to have been mainly written in Old Irish.
What does DUIR mean?
Duir, the oak, is the tree of strength and of honour. It is also the tree of male virility. It is the seventh tree of the Ogham and has universally agreed upon meanings without exception. Even those that do not hold trees sacred seem to have a reverence for the oak.
How do you write an Ogham name?
Ogham is written from the bottom of the central line to the top. There are certain letters in the English alphabet that do not have a direct translation in Ogham like J, V and Y. To compensate we spell the word phonetically so we use an I for Y and F for V.
Is Ogham read top to bottom?
There are a few important things to remember when writing in Ogham. Ogham is written from the bottom of the central line to the top. There are certain letters in the English alphabet that do not have a direct translation in Ogham like J, V and Y.
Is Ogham a pagan?
Ogham Symbol Gallery. Patti Wigington is a pagan author, educator, and licensed clergy. The Celtic Ogham alphabet has long been shrouded in mystery, but many Pagans use these ancient symbols as tools of divination, although there’s no real documentation of how the symbols were used originally.
Where has ogham been found?
There are over 400 surviving ogham stones in the landscape today, the bulk of which (approximately 360) are in Ireland. They are found in most counties, but the highest concentrations are in the south west, particularly in Kerry, Cork and Waterford.
Did Scottish people use ogham?
Ogham was also occasionally used for notes in manuscripts down to the 16th century. A modern ogham inscription is found on a gravestone dating to 1802 in Ahenny, County Tipperary. In Scotland, a number of inscriptions using the ogham writing system are known, but their language is still the subject of debate.