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Runes (Proto-Norse: (''runo''), Old Norse: ''rún'') are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets, which were used to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialised purposes thereafter. The Scandinavian variants are also known as futhark or fuþark (derived from their first six letters of the alphabet: ''F'', ''U'', ''Þ'', ''A'', ''R'', and ''K''); the Anglo-Saxon variant is futhorc or fuþorc (due to sound changes undergone in Old English by the names of those six letters). Runology is the study of the runic alphabets, runic inscriptions, runestones, and their history. Runology forms a specialised branch of Germanic linguistics. The earliest runic inscriptions date from around 150 AD. The characters were generally replaced by the Latin alphabet as the cultures that had used runes underwent Christianisation, by approximately 700 AD in central Europe and 1100 AD in northern Europe. However, the use of runes persisted for specialized purposes in northern Europe. Until the early 20th century, runes were used in rural Sweden for decorative purposes in Dalarna and on Runic calendars. The three best-known runic alphabets are the Elder Futhark (around 150–800 AD), the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc (400–1100 AD), and the Younger Futhark (800–1100 AD). The Younger Futhark is divided further into the long-branch runes (also called ''Danish'', although they were also used in Norway and Sweden); short-branch or Rök runes (also called ''Swedish-Norwegian'', although they were also used in Denmark); and the ''stavlösa'' or Hälsinge runes (staveless runes). The Younger Futhark developed further into the Medieval runes (1100–1500 AD), and the Dalecarlian runes (around 1500–1800 AD). Historically, the runic alphabet is a derivation of the Old Italic alphabets of antiquity, with the addition of some innovations. Which variant of the Old Italic family in particular gave rise to the runes is uncertain. Suggestions include Raetic, Venetic, Etruscan, or Old Latin as candidates. At the time, all of these scripts had the same angular letter shapes suited for epigraphy, which would become characteristic of the runes. The process of transmission of the script is unknown. The oldest inscriptions are found in Denmark and northern Germany, not near Italy. A "West Germanic hypothesis" suggests transmission via Elbe Germanic groups, while a "Gothic hypothesis" presumes transmission via East Germanic expansion. ==History and use== The runes were in use among the Germanic peoples from the 1st or 2nd century AD. This period corresponds to the late Common Germanic stage linguistically, with a continuum of dialects not yet clearly separated into the three branches of later centuries: North Germanic, West Germanic, and East Germanic. No distinction is made in surviving runic inscriptions between long and short vowels, although such a distinction was certainly present phonologically in the spoken languages of the time. Similarly, there are no signs for labiovelars in the Elder Futhark (such signs were introduced in both the Anglo-Saxon futhorc and the Gothic alphabet as variants of ''p''; see peorð.) The term ''runes'' is used to distinguish these symbols from Latin and Greek ''letters''. It is attested on a 6th-century Alamannic runestaff as ''runa'' and possibly as ''runo'' on the 4th-century Einang stone. The name comes from the Germanic root ''run-'' (Gothic ''runa''), meaning "secret" or "whisper". In the Celtic language Irish, the word '' rún '' means "mystery," "secret," " intention" or "affectionate love." Ogham is a Celtic script, similarly carved in the Norse manner. The root ''run-'' can also be found in the Baltic languages, meaning "speech". In Lithuanian, ''runoti'' means both "to cut (with a knife)" and "to speak". According to another theory, the Germanic root comes from the Indoeuropean root *reuə- "dig".〔Friedrich Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2001, ISBN 978-3-11-017473-1〕 The Finnish term for rune, ''riimukirjain'', means "scratched letter".〔Nykysuomen sanakirja: "riimu"〕 The Finnish word ''runo'' means "poem" and comes from the same source as the English word "rune"; it is a very old loan of the Proto-Germanic ( *rūnō ) ("letter, literature, secret").〔Häkkinen, Kaisa. Nykysuomen etymologinen sanakirja〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「runes」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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