ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1564 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1564 ************************************ 19 Apr 1999 From: Jodi McMaster Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for help forming a Scottish Gaelic name for a woman living between 500 and 1400 C.E., requesting that the first name sound like or and the byname of . Some English names were adopted into Gaelic in our period, but not most. Many more names were adopted after our period, so modern name dictionaries can give long lists of equivalent Gaelic/English pairs of names. Unfortunately, most of those pairs aren't correct for our period. In particular, there is no period Gaelic feminine of . The most similar name we found is , an early medieval Gaelic woman's name pronounced roughly \AHL-y@n\, where \@\ is the sound of the in . [1] This name was used by the mother of an Irish king who died in 943. Since it is an early Irish Gaelic name, it is plausible that it was also used by Gaelic speakers in Scotland. The byname you are considering, , although close to correct, needs to be modified if it is paired with the early name . , an early medieval Gaelic man's name, is the form the name takes when used as a first name. [2] When used after the word meaning "daughter," spelled before 1200 or so, becomes as a result of Gaelic grammar. [3] The phrase , 'daughter of Ceannadeach', is pronounced roughly \EEN-y@n KHAIN-yai-dich\ (\@\ as the "a" in , \ai\ as in
, \ch\ as in German ). Putting it together, we recommend , 'Ailleann daughter of Ceannadeach', as an appropriate name for an Irish Gaelic woman, and therefore probably for an Scottish Gaelic woman, living between 700 to 1200. We realize this is a shorter period than the one you asked about. The Irish language changed significantly over the 900 years you asked about. Relatively little is known about Primitive Irish names, before 700 or so; Old Irish begins in approximately 700. Since the name closest to what you wanted was used in the early Middle Ages, we have focused on a name appropriate to that period. We hope this letter has been helpful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael, Arval d'Espas Nord, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, and Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn contributed comments and/or research for this letter. For the Academy, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum April 19, 1999 __________________ References: [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). [2] O'Brien, M. A., ed., _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976). [3] is the possessive (genitive) form of , required so that the surname means "Ceannadeach's daughter". The extra in represents a softening of the initial sound, called "lenition", that is required in Gaelic in some circumstances. For details, you can read the explanation at: http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/obrien/#lenition