Luis (letter)

Ogham letters
᚛ᚑᚌᚐᚋᚁᚂᚃᚓᚇᚐᚅ᚜
Aicme Beithe
᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚁᚂᚃᚄᚅ᚜
Aicme Muine
᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚋᚌᚎᚏ᚜
[b] Beith [m] Muin
[l] Luis [ɡ] Gort
[w] Fearn [ɡʷ] nGéadal
[s] Sail [st], [ts], [sw] Straif
[n] Nion [r] Ruis
Aicme hÚatha
᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚆᚇᚈᚉᚊ᚜
Aicme Ailme
᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚐᚑᚒᚓᚔ᚜
[j] Uath [a] Ailm
[d] Dair [o] Onn
[t] Tinne [u] Úr
[k] Coll [e] Eadhadh
[kʷ] Ceirt [i] Iodhadh
Forfeda
᚛ᚃᚑᚏᚃᚓᚇᚐ᚜
[ea], [k], [x], [eo] Éabhadh
[oi] Ór
[ui] Uilleann
[ia] Ifín
[x], [ai] Eamhancholl
[p] Peith

Luis (ᚂ) is the second letter (Irish "letter": sing.fid, pl.feda) of the Ogham alphabet, derived either from luise "flame" or from lus "herb". Its Proto-Indo-European root was either *leuk- 'to shine' or *leudh- 'to grow'. Its phonetic value is [l]. If the letter name follows the same pattern as ruise to ruis, it is likely that the letter was originally named from luise, though different kennings point to both meanings.[1]

  1. ^ McManus, Damian (1991). A Guide to Ogam. Maynooth Monographs. Vol. 4. Co. Kildare, Ireland: An Sagart. p. 36. ISBN 1-870684-75-3. ISSN 0790-8806. The kennings point to an association of this letter name with either luise/loise 'flame, blaze' or lus 'plant, herb'. The word itself is not reliably attested in a context which would indicate its precise primary meaning but it is clearly related either to the root *leuk- 'to shine' or *leudh- 'to grow', either confirming /l/ as the value.