ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1322 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1322 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 1 Oct 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the 13th or 14th century Irish feminine name . This letter is a brief answer to your question. Your name is almost correct. was a popular name in the later Middle Ages. It was pronounced \LAHS-ir-REE-na\, with the \i\ as in [1]. (with an accent on the second ) was a man's name found in the same period, pronounced \FAY-lahn\. The right way to combine these two names depends on what you intend to say. If you want to call yourself "Lasairfhi/ona, daughter of Faola/n", then the correct Irish name is . The word means "daughter" in Gaelic; it is pronounced \IN-yen\. The changes in spelling of are required by Gaelic grammar: The added puts the name in its possessive form (like the <'s> in ), and the added indicates a softening of the initial sound. This softening, called "lenition", is required in some circumstances in Gaelic. In this case, it changes the pronunciation to \AY-lahn\. If you intend to call yourself "Lasairfhi/ona, member of Clan Faola/n", then the correct name is , pronounced \LAHS-ir-REE-na IN-yen ee AY-lahn\. This name literally means "Lasairfhi/ona, daughter of [a man whose surname is] O/ Faola/n". It's really shorthand for something like "Lasairfhi/ona, daughter of Domhnall O/ Faola/n". The word is a modern word, not used in Gaelic in our period. It's a contraction of and is used in modern Irish as the feminine form of . I hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 1 Oct 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 25 Apr 2001: The client wrote asking about a new name. We replied. Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked us to evaluate your name, , in the context of medieval or renaissance Ireland. We will be happy to help. You wrote us twice previously about your name; our responses to those questions are available at: http://www.s-gabriel.org/1176 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1322 We will refer back to those reports as well as some others that discuss other parts of your name. In report 1322, we recommended as a 13th or 14th century Irish name , pronounced \LAHS-ir-REE-na IN-yen AY-lahn~\. The slashes in the name represent acute accent marks on the preceding letters. The symbol \n~\ represents the sound of the in Italian or French , or of the n-tilde in Spanish words like . The changes in spelling of to are required by Gaelic grammar: The additional puts the name into its possessive form, operating like the <'s> in English words like . It changes the pronunciation of the final \n\ to \n~\. The added indicates a softening in pronunciation of the initial consonant that occurs in some grammatical circumstances in Gaelic. In this case, the initial \F\ becomes silent. You asked how to add to your name. is an anglicized form of a Gaelic patronymic . If your father's name were and his father were , then your father would have been called . Again, the is added to put the name into its possessive form. The Academy discussed precisely this name in report 1561: http://www.s-gabriel.org/1561 would have been pronounced \FAY-lahn mahk LYOATCH\. His daughter Lasairfhi/ona could have been called , pronounced \LAHS-ir-REE-na IN-yen AY-lahn~ veek LYOATCH\. The change from to is another grammatical requirement; is the possessive (or more precisely, genitive) form of . Of course, this extended form of her name would probably only have been used in very formal circumstances; usually she'd just be identified as . I hope this letter has been clear. If you have further questions, please write us again. Arval for the Academy 25 Apr 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, 18 Oct 2001, Arval: After a word ending in 'n', like , the letters 'D' and 'T' do not lenite.