Muin (letter)

This article is about the letter. For the lost continent sometimes called Muin, see Mu (lost continent). For the Middle Eastern name and places, see Mu'in.

Ogham letters ᚛ᚑᚌᚐᚋᚁᚂᚃᚓᚇᚐᚅ᚜
Aicme Beithe ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚁᚂᚃᚄᚅ᚜			Aicme Muine ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚋᚌᚎᚏ᚜
ᚁ	[b]	Beith	ᚋ	[m]	Muin
ᚂ	[l]	Luis	ᚌ	[ɡ]	Gort
ᚃ	[w]	Fearn	ᚍ	[ɡʷ]	nGéadal
ᚄ	[s]	Sail	ᚎ	[st], [ts], [sw]	Straif
ᚅ	[n]	Nion	ᚏ	[r]	Ruis
Aicme hÚatha ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚆᚇᚈᚉᚊ᚜			Aicme Ailme ᚛ᚐᚔᚉᚋᚓᚐᚑᚒᚓᚔ᚜
ᚆ	[j]	Uath	ᚐ	[a]	Ailm
ᚇ	[d]	Dair	ᚑ	[o]	Onn
ᚈ	[t]	Tinne	ᚒ	[u]	Úr
ᚉ	[k]	Coll	ᚓ	[e]	Eadhadh
ᚊ	[kʷ]	Ceirt	ᚔ	[i]	Iodhadh
Forfeda ᚛ᚃᚑᚏᚃᚓᚇᚐ᚜
	ᚕ	[ea], [k], [x], [eo]	Éabhadh
	ᚖ	[oi]	Ór
	ᚗ	[ui]	Uilleann
	ᚘ	[ia]	Ifín
	ᚙ	[x], [ai]	Eamhancholl
	ᚚ	[p]	Peith

Muin is the Irish name of the eleventh letter of the Ogham alphabet, ᚋ. The bríatharogaim kennings reflect the fact the Old Irish muin has three homonyms meaning "neck, upper part of the back", "wile, ruse, trick", and "love, esteem". Which of these gave the letter its name is not know for certain, but is thought to be "neck". This is related to the archaic Welsh mwn ("neck") and Latin monile. Its phonetic value is [m].

Bríatharogam

In the medieval kennings, called Bríatharogaim or Word Ogham the verses associated with Muin are:

tressam fedmae - "strongest in exertion" in the Bríatharogam Morann mic Moín

árusc n-airlig - "proverb of slaughter" in the Bríatharogam Mac ind Óc

conar gotha - "path of the voice" in the Bríatharogam Con Culainn.