ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1643 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1643 ************************************ 12 May 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether , intended to mean "Land of dew-covered mountains", could have been a medieval Irish place name. Here is what we have found. We did not find any Gaelic word . If you can tell us where you found it, we may be able to tell you more about it. The most common Old Irish place-name elements meaning "mountain" were and [3]. The slash represents an accent on the previous letter. The word means "dewy" in modern Scottish Gaelic, but not in Irish Gaelic or in the medieval language [1]. The cognate Modern Irish word means "sparkling, bright, beautiful" [2]. Both derive from the Old Irish "sparkling, brilliant" [3]. We did not find any Gaelic place name based on this word. We did find another word with a similar meaning that seems appropriate for a place name: "rain, moisture, dew" and its adjective form "dewy" [3]. It appears in the compounds , "dew-wood", and "dew-strand" [4]. Following these examples, we can construct or , both of which could mean "dewy mountain". The word "land" is rarely compounded by a complex description of a geographic feature; it is usually modified by a given name, as in "Conall's land". In your case, it really isn't needed: or make fine place names as they stand. They are pronounced \BRINE-SLEE-@v\ and \BEN~ VR#N-@kh\. The symbol \@\ represents a schwa, the first sound in . \N~\ represents the sound of the Spanish n-tilde, as in , or the in the French . Finally, \#\ is a vowel that doesn't occur in English. It's similar to the in . More precisely, it's the sound you get by shaping your lips to say and then saying instead. 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 Blaise de Cormeilles, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, and Effric neyn Kenneoch. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 12 May 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Dwelly, Edward, _Faclair gaidhlig: A Gaelic Dictionary_ (Herne Bay [Eng.] E. Macdonald & co., 1902-[11]). [2] Dinneen, Patrick S. _Foclo/ir Gaedhilge agus Be/arla_ (Dublin: Irish Texts Society, 1979 [1927]). [3] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983). [4] Hogan, Edmund, _Onomasticon Goedelicum: Locorum et Tribuum Hiberniae et Scotiae (An Index, with Identifications, to the Gaelic Names of Places and Tribes)_ (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1993 [1910]).