ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1511 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1511 ************************************ 27 May 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help choosing a name for your new Society branch. You wanted a name in a Romance language that somehow related to your mundane location, Wellington City, Australia. Here's what we've found. Among other languages, you expressed interest in Latin. Most place names in medieval Europe were certainly written in Latin, but the Latin form was almost never used in everyday speech. We suggest you start by choosing a name in one of the vernacular languages and then translate it into Latin for use in scrolls and other formal documents. You listed a number of elements that you're considering including in your name, particular "Duke" and "city". We'll deal with that combination shortly, but we want to discuss the other possibilities, too. We were unable to find any medieval examples of some of the elements you listed: these include "boot," and "beehive." "Capital," as far as we could determine, has never been used for the name of a place. We found the element "wind" in several English place names [9], mostly in the north of England and referring to exposed elevations. However, we haven't found the same concept in place names in any of the languages that interest you and this idea is rather overused in Society place names, so we're going to suggest some other possibilities. "Straits" is sometimes used as a place name element, but inhabited places are more commonly named after land features than water features. "Harbour," "Cape," and "City" all have equivalents that were used in period Romance-language place names. Some of these equivalents haven't changed since the Middle Ages [1, 2, 3]. French Italian Portuguese Spanish Harbour Port Porto Porto Porto/Puerto Cape Cap Capo Cabo Cabo City/Village Ville Villa Vila Villa We found place names in some of these languages which provide models for names that might interest you. If you want a name that means something like "Duke's city", we think that is a good choice. We found places named after titles in several languages, such as the French "village on the count's estate" and "king's town" [4]. Similarly, we found Portuguese , , and [1]. A French or Portuguese "duke's village, settlement, or town" would be good re-creation. The equivalents in Italian, Spanish, or other languages would probably be equally good, but we didn't find analogous names in those languages so they aren't our first recommendations. (This not unlikely to be a result of our limited sources for medieval Spanish and Italian placenames.) If you would prefer something in another language, write us again and we'll make some suggestions. We also found places named after real or legendary people. The Italian or French "Port Arthur" are reasonable possibilities [7]. The Spanish equivalent might be , after the pattern of places like , [8]. It may be possible to construct a Portuguese equivalent, too, after the model of [5]. This name could also be translated into other languages, but we're not sure of the period form of in those languages. If you are interested in this name in a particular language, let us know and we'll see what we can find. Similarly, a village on a cape could be named after a person, real or legendary. There is a French , so or is reasonable [4]. The Spanish can justify "Arthur's town". Finally, we found places named after topographical features [4]. The examples we found suggest that the French "Capeville" is a reasonable construction. We're not sure how the same idea would have been expressed in other languages. In an earlier post to the Rialto, Talan Gwynek, a member of the Academy, discussed a number of other possibilities. They are excellent suggestions. You can find his discussion on the web [6]: http://x39.deja.com/[ST_rn=ps]/getdoc.xp?AN=433165898&CONTEXT=927144289.1284571204&hitnum=0 We hope this letter has been helpful. If you have any questions, please write us again. We were assisted in preparing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Blaise de Cormeilles, Pedro de Alcazar, Juliana de Luna, Walraven van Nijmegen, Fergus Stout, and Rhodri ap Hywel. In service, Alan Fairfax and Arval Benicoeur Academy of S. Gabriel 27 May 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Symington, Martin, _Portugal with Madeira and the Azores_ (London: Dorling Kindersley, 1997). [2] De La Torre, Antonio and E. A. de la Torre, eds., _Cuentas de Gonzalo de Baeza Tesorero de Isabel la Cato/lica_ (Madrid: Biblioteca "Reyes Cato/licos", 1956). [3] Getty Information Institute Thesaurus of Geographic Names http://www.ahip.getty.edu/vocabulary/tgn.html [4] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963), pp., 127, 719-724 passim. [5] Duncan, T. Bentley, _Atlantic Islands: Madeira, the Azores, and the Cape Verdes in Seventeenth-Century Commerce and Navigation_ (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972), p.63. [6] If that URL doesn't work, go to http://www.deja.com/home_ps.shtml and search for the keyword "Wellington" in articles by from userid scott on the newsgroup rec.org.sca. [7] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei Cognomi Italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978), s.n. Artusi. [8] Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957), index of toponyms. The name appears twice in the etymological index. [9] Ekwall, Eilert, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names_, 4th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), s.nn. Windhill, Wingate, Winscales.