ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1797 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1797 ************************************ 17 Oct 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a 12th century woman from Normandy living in England. Here is what we have found. Some form of was used as a given name in England by the 13th century, and we think it likely that it was occasionally used there in the late 12th century as well. The first English example we found is the partially Latinized 1221. Another spelling, , appeared in 1273 [1]. In France, the Latin was recorded in Paris in the early 9th century, and secondary evidence demonstrates that the spelling was current in the early 13th century [2, 3]. For your period, we recommend the spelling , since it is the earliest documented Anglo-Norman form. Around 1200, we believe and are plausible English spellings of the French name, but we must stress that we do not have evidence for these forms. We recommend against the substitution of for in the second syllable; it is not consistent with Old French or Middle English spelling. Based on the examples we've found from your period, we believe the pronunciation was \mah-d@-LEN-@\ in 12th century England. \@\ represents a schwa sound, the sound of the in . You wrote that you believe the name was pronounced like . The pronunciation developed to \MAO-d@-lane\ in the late 13th century; \MAO\ rhymes with and \lane\ with . The two-syllable pronunciation \MAWD-lin\ may have appeared in English by the end of our period, but not as early as the 12th century [1]. We found no evidence to support the French surname , either in English or French. We did find a couple possibilities that may interest you, though. One has a similar sound, an Anglo-Norman surname 1130 or 1190, 1292, both derived from French places named "the pool" [4, 6]. This was pronounced \d@ la MAR-@\, not \d@ la MAIR\. The other has a similar meaning: "on the sea, by the sea", which is analogous to a couple French surnames that we found [5]. We believe or would be reasonable names for your period. 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 and Mari Elspeth nic Bryan. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 17 Oct 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Madelaine. 1273 suggest the pronunciation \MAO-d@-lane\. The earliest spelling she lists that would have been pronounced \MAWD-lin\ is in the 17th century. [2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, vol.II (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). [3] Greimas, Algirdas Julien. Dictionnaire de l'ancien franc,ais (Paris: Larousse, 1997); s.n. . [4] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Delamar. [5] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987), s.n. Surleau, Surlemont. Although we did not find , it is a logical extension of the pattern demonstrated by these two names. is the Old French spelling of "on" [Einhorn, E., _Old French: A Concise Handbook_ (London & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1974), p.108]. [6] Geraud, Hercule, _Paris sous Philippe-le-Bel: d'apre/s des documents originaux et notamment d'apre/s un manuscript contenant Le Ro^le de la taille impose/e sur les habitants de Paris en 1292_ (Paris : Crapelet, 1837), p.13, col.1.