ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1674
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1674
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From: 
22 Jun 1999

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked our opinion of <Anne verch Dafydd> for a 16th century Welsh female. 
We have one suggested improvement.

A study of women's names from the first half of the 16th century in Welsh 
legal records shows <Anne> was the 8th most popular.  In every case but one 
it was recorded in this spelling. [1]

In a patrynomic byname meaning 'daughter of the <father's name>,' <verch> is 
pronounced \vairkh\.  (Here \kh\ stands for the soft, slightly rasping sound 
of \ch\ in Scottish <loch> and German <Bach>.)  In the sixteenth century this 
lenited form was spelled a variety of ways, but your choice is by far the 
most common in our data [1].

<Dafydd> is the standard modern Welsh spelling of this name, but in your 
period it was usually written <David>.  This is true even in Welsh-language 
documents, in which it was a tendency at that time to use English spellings 
of common names [2].  Note that this is just the written form, however: the 
name was still pronounced \DAH-vidh\.  Here \dh\ stands for the sound of <th> 
in <this>.  This is an excellent choice: among the patrynomics mentioned 
<David> was second only to <John> [1].

In conclusion, you've chosen a name that is very characteristic of 16th 
century Welsh usage.  We think, however that it would most likely have been 
written <Anne verch David>, though it still would have been pronounced 
\AHN-@\ (or possibly \AHN\) \vairkh DAH-vidh\.  (The \@\ is the schwa sound 
of the <a> in <sofa> and <about>.) 

I hope this letter has been useful.  Please write us again if any part of it 
has been unclear or you have questions.  I was assisted in researching and 
writing this letter by Teceangl Bach, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvyrn, 
Arval d'Espas Nord, Talan Gwynek, Walraven van Nijmegen, Margaret Makafee and 
Caelin of Andred.

For the Academy,

     Roxanne Joslin, 8 May 1999

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References

[1]  Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "Women's 
Names in the First Half of 16th Century Wales" (WWW: J. Mittleman 1998) 
[URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/welshWomen16/]. 

[2]  Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ (Cardiff: University of 
Wales Press, 1985).