Ogham

== English == === Alternative forms === ogham, ogam === Etymology === Borrowed from Irish ogham, from Middle Irish ogam, from Proto-Celtic *ogmos (“furrow, path”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂óǵmos. The Irish word is frequently folk-etymologized as og-úaim, referring to ogham being supposedly made by the point of a sharp weapon, but this approach faces serious phonological and morphological problems in that: The name of ogham and the supposed second element (úaimm (“seam”)?) inflected very differently in Early Irish, "ogham" being an o-stem and the second element being a neuter n-stem. Middle Irish ogmóir (“skilled in ogham”) should have a vowel in between the g and m because vowels lengthened by compensatory lengthening after consonant loss are usually not syncopated in Early Irish. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈoʊ.əm/ IPA(key): (see the usage notes) /ˈɒɡəm/ Rhymes: -oʊəm === Proper noun === Ogham An ancient Celtic alphabet historically used to write Primitive Irish. ==== Usage notes ==== The pronunciation /ˈoʊ.əm/ more closely matches the modern Irish pronunciation of the word ([ˈoːmˠ], [ˈoːəmˠ]), but the pronunciation /ˈɒɡəm/, based on the spelling and the Old Irish pronunciation, is also common in English. ==== Derived terms ==== === Noun === Ogham (plural Oghams) A single character in this alphabet. === See also === beth luis nion, beth luis fern === References === === Anagrams === Omagh, go HAM, go ham