ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1113 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1113 ************************************ From: 16 Aug 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wrote to us wanting to know whether epithets describing personality were appropriate for early Irish names. Specifically, you wanted to know whether the adjective could be used by an Irish woman circa 900 in the context of meaning "boring or tedious". We did find some evidence for descriptive epithets of personality or behavior in early Ireland. In particular, we found the following used in names [1]: victorious buadach, coscrach warlike anglondach ardent, valient galach fierce, strong lond sweet-sounding binnech supporting, protecting? costudach enduring, constant feidlech given to feasting fledach health(y)? sla/ine proud, arrogant, or loud uallach >From this, we can conclude that names describing character are possible, though nicknames based on negative charateristics are extremely rare. Only might fit into that category, though it may have been considered a positive characteristic among the early Irish. The adjective means "slow, tedious, lingering, importunate, dragging" [2,3]. If this word existed in your period, it would have been spelled , and have meant "importunate, nagging". (The '/' represents an accent over the preceeding vowel.) It appears to be applicable to persons in this sense, which is probably not what you intend. Because of this, and the fact that we do not have evidence of the word's existence for your period, we recommend against using it. A better choice for your desired meaning might be the adjective (modern ) which means "tedious, wearisome" and is applied to human actions, particularly speech [2]. It is pronounced \LEE-stah\ [4]. Please note, however, that the overwhelming majority of people used a patronymic byname. Like an epithet, this was not a hereditary surname in the modern sense, but was a descriptive phrase that identified you as your father's daugther. Even if you choose to use a descriptive epithet on most occasions, it would be authentic to have a patronymic to use in formal situations. For more about patronymics and Gaelic bynames in general, we recommend that you read "Quick and Easy Gaelic Bynames": http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/quick_gaelic_bynames.html We also note that you are spelling your first name as . Since you are planning to change your registered name anyway, we will mention that this is a late period spelling. For the 9th or 10th century, the most likely spelling is . We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Arval Benicoeur, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, and Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin contributed to this letter. In service, --Walraven van Nijmegen Academy of S. Gabriel [1] M.A. O'Brien (ed.), _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976) [2] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language_ (Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1983) [3] Patrick S. Dinneen, _Foclo/ir Gaedhilge agus Be/arla_ (Dublin: Irish Texts Society, 1927) One of the examples given is a phrase glossed "drink is a slothful brother." This suggests but doesn't actually prove that it could also be applied to a slothful person. However, this meaning is likely not old enough to apply around 900. [4] In most cases, words used in epithets would undergo a change in spelling and pronunciation to conform to the rules of Gaelic grammar. However, Gaelic words beginning with "L" do not change spelling in these situations, and the change in pronunciation is more technical than most people would want to worry about. Simply use the pronunciations we gave you, or if you are truly interested in the details, you may contact us again.