ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1459 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1459 ************************************ 9 Feb 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a Scottish Gaelic woman before 1300. Here is what we have found. Your choice is very close to correct. We have a couple suggestions on spelling and on fitting your name to your interests, but they are minor changes. is a Latin spelling of a Gaelic woman's name which was spelled in Gaelic in the early Middle Ages (roughly up to 1200) and later. It was pronounced \FOR-vleth\ in your period [1, 2]. Which spelling is appropriate depends on what language you are using at the time: in Latin, you'd use Latin for your entire name; in Gaelic, you'd use Gaelic throughout. The two languages had very different spelling systems (as you can see from this one example), and they were not mixed together. Women did occasionally use descriptive bynames in medieval Gaelic [4]. is a correct descriptive byname for your period, though it doesn't mean quite what you thought. The word means "white, fair, bright" and metaphorically "holy, blessed". It was used as a byname in period Scotland, so it's a fine choice [2]. However, if you want a byname that means "fair, beautiful", you might want to use or its later-period spelling [3]. In the early Middle Ages, this word was pronounced roughly \KHEHV\. \KH\ represents the harsh, rasping sound in Scottish or German . is the lenited form of . The slash represents an accent on the previous letter. "Lenition" is a softening of the initial consonant of a word that is required by Gaelic grammar in some circumstances. In particular, a word used as a woman's byname is lenited. Lenition was not always reflected in the spelling of the word; when it was, an 'h' was added after the initial consonant: became . The pronunciation changed whether or not it was reflected in the spelling: \BAHN\ became \VAHN\. You've used the correct word for "daughter", . This is the pre-1200 spelling. Later in period, it was . Either way, it's pronounced \IN-yen\. is a good choice for your father's name [2]. When you incorporate it into your own name, it has to be put into its possessive form: You are "Leod's daughter". The possessive form of is , pronounced \LYOAD\ or \LYOAT\. The vowel is the same as in the English word , and \LY\ represents the sound of Spanish . is a fine pre-1200 Gaelic name. Later in period, the same name would have been . However, Gaelic was rarely used as a written language in period Scotland; if you'd written your name, it would probably have been in Latin, and you might have written . We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Blaise de Cormeilles, and Aryanhwy merch Catmael. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 9 Feb 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Forbflaith. [2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Forveleth, MacLeod, Bain, Bane. Examples of as a byname include 1320, a Gaelic name recorded in a Scots or Latin document. [3] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983). [4] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's 'Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae'" (WWW, Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996) http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/irish-obrien.html