Coll (letter)

Coll is the Irish name of the ninth letter of the Ogham alphabet ᚉ, meaning "hazel-tree", which is related to Welsh collen pl. cyll, and Latin corulus. Its Proto-Indo-European root was *kos(e)lo-. Its phonetic value is [k].[1]

Ogham letters
Aicme Beithe			Aicme Muine
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			Aicme Ailme
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 (rare, sounds uncertain)
ᚕ	[k], [x], [eo]	Éabhadh
ᚖ	[oi]	Ór
ᚗ	[ui]	Uilleann
ᚘ	[p], [io]	Ifín	ᚚ	[p]	Peith
ᚙ	[x], [ai]	Eamhancholl

Bríatharogam

In the medieval kennings, called Bríatharogam or Word Ogham the verses associated with Coll are:

caíniu fedaib - "fairest tree" in the Bríatharogam Morann mic Moín

carae blóesc - "friend of nutshells" in the Bríatharogam Mac ind Óc

milsem fedo - "sweetest tree" in the Bríatharogam Con Culainn.[2]

References

1. McManus, Damian (1991). A Guide to Ogam. Maynooth Monographs. 4. Co. Kildare, Ireland: An Sagart. p. 37. ISBN 1-870684-75-3. ISSN 0790-8806. The name of the ninth letter of the alphabet is the word for 'hazel-tree', Old Irish coll, cognate with Welsh collen pl. cyll hazel-tree(s), Latin corulus from the root *kos(e)lo-. The etymology confirms /k/ (as opposed to /kʶ/, see the next letter) as the value of this letter in Primitive Irish.
2. McManus, Damian (1988). "Irish Letter-Names and Their Kennings". Ériu. 39: 127–168. JSTOR 30024135.