Note: This article contains special characters.

Straif is the Irish name of the fourteenth letter of the Ogham alphabet, ᚎ. Old Irish spelling variants are straif, straiph, zraif, sraif, sraiph, sraib. Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was an alphabet used primarily to represent Gaelic languages. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... The correct title of this article is nGéadal. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Ceirt (queirt) is a letter of the Ogham alphabet, transcribed as Q. It expresses the Primitive Irish labiovelar phoneme. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... The Forfeda are the additional letters of the Ogham alphabet, beyond the basic inventory of twenty signs. ... The Forfeda are the additional letters of the Ogham alphabet, beyond the basic inventory of twenty signs. ... The Forfeda are the additional letters of the Ogham alphabet, beyond the basic inventory of twenty signs. ... Ifín (also spelled iphin) is one of the forfeda, the additional letters of the Ogham alphabet. ... The Forfeda are the additional letters of the Ogham alphabet, beyond the basic inventory of twenty signs. ... The Forfeda are the additional letters of the Ogham alphabet, beyond the basic inventory of twenty signs. ... Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was an alphabet used primarily to represent Gaelic languages. ...

The Bríatharogam kennings for the letter are: A Bríatharogam (word ogham, plural Bríatharogaim) is a list of kennings for the names of the letters of the Ogham script. ...

• tressam rúamnai "strongest reddening"
• mórad rún "increase of secrets"
• saigid nél "seeking of clouds"

The probable meaning of the name is "sulphur". The first two kennings could be explained by the main use of sulphur as dye, and its alchemical significance, respectively. The third kenning could be a corruption of saiget nél "arrow of the clouds", i.e. sraibtine "lightning". An alternative kenning has aire srábae "chief of streams", and glossators adhering to the "Tree Alphabet" base an identification with draigen "blackthorn" on this, by thinking of a "hedge on a river". The "chief of streams" kenning may be referring to sulphur by reference to the stream of brimstone, sruth [s]ruibhe, mentioned in Isaiah 30:33. For the chemical element see: sulfur. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Lightning over Pentagon City in Arlington County, Virginia Lightning is a powerful natural electrostatic discharge produced during a thunderstorm. ... Binomial name Prunus spinosa L. The Blackthorn, is a large shrub or a small tree of the genus Prunus, botanically Prunus spinosa. ... Isaiah the Prophet in Hebrew Scriptures was depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo. ...

The letter's original phonetic value is uncertain, but it may have been [st], [ts] or [sw]. The medieval manuscript tradition transcribes it with Latin Z.

References

• Damian McManus, Irish letter-names and their kennings, Ériu 39 (1988), 127-168.