# Uath

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{{Short description|Letter of the Ogham alphabet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Contains special characters|Ogham}}
{{Table Oghamletters}}
'''Uath''', [Old Irish](/source/Old_Irish) '''Úath''', '''hÚath''' ({{IPA|sga|uːəθ}}), is the sixth letter of the [Ogham](/source/Ogham) alphabet, ᚆ, transcribed {{angbr|ʜ}} in manuscript tradition, but unattested in actual inscriptions.  The [kenning](/source/kenning) "a meet of hounds is ''huath''" identifies the name as ''úath'' "horror, fear", although the [Auraicept](/source/Auraicept) glosses "[white-thorn](/source/Crataegus_monogyna)":
:''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.<ref>{{cite book | title=A Guide to Ogam | last= McManus |first = Damian | year = 1991 | series = Maynooth Monographs | volume =4 | isbn= 1-870684-75-3 | issn = 0790-8806 | publisher = An Sagart | location = Co. Kildare, Ireland |page =37 | quote= The letter name, therefore, presents considerable difficulties but one can be reasonably certain that the value ''h'' which the manuscript tradition accords it is no more than a cosmetic solution to the problem created by the loss of the original initial consonant.}}</ref> McManus (1986) suggested a value /y/ (i.e. the semivowel [j]).<ref>{{cite book | title=A Guide to Ogam | last= McManus |first = Damian | year = 1991 | series = Maynooth Monographs | volume =4 | isbn= 1-870684-75-3 | issn = 0790-8806 | publisher = An Sagart | location = Co. Kildare, Ireland |page =36 | quote= In my 1986 paper I suggested an original value /y/, noting the parallel with the Ogam distinction between vocalic and consonantal ''u'' (symbols 18 and 3 respectively), but I also pointed to difficulties associated with this suggestions (see further §5.11).}}</ref> [Peter Schrijver](/source/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.<ref>{{cite book | title=A Guide to Ogam | last= McManus |first = Damian | year = 1991 | series = Maynooth Monographs | volume =4 | isbn= 1-870684-75-3 | issn = 0790-8806 | publisher = An Sagart | location = Co. Kildare, Ireland |page =37 | quote= The kennings identify ''hÚath'' with Old Irish ''úath'' 'fear, horror' and it has been suggested to me by Peter Schrijver of the University of Leiden that if the latter is cognate with Latin ''pavere'' 'to be terrified', some trace of Indo-European /p/ might have survived into Primitive Irish in pre-vocalic initial position.  If so this might explain the appearance of ''hÚath'' in a consonantal series but the evidence of Continental Celtic, where /p/ in this position is completely lost, does not support the hypothesis.}}</ref>

==Bríatharogam==
In the medieval [kennings](/source/kennings), called ''[Bríatharogam](/source/Br%C3%ADatharogam)'' or ''Word Ogham'' the verses associated with ''Úath'' are:

condál cúan - "assembly of packs of hounds"	 in the Word Ogham of ''Morann mic Moín''

bánad gnúise - "blanching of faces"  in the Word Ogham of ''Mac ind Óc''

ansam aidche - "most difficult at night""  in the Word Ogham of ''Culainn''.<ref>[Auraicept na n-Éces](/source/Auraicept_na_n-%C3%89ces) Calder, George, Edinburgh, John Grant (1917), reprint Four Courts Press (1995), {{ISBN|1-85182-181-3}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

Category:Ogham letters

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Uath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uath) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uath?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.