ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1877 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1877 ************************************ 17 Jan 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help choosing a Gaelic woman's name appropriate for Ireland in the 11th to 14th centuries. You particularly wanted information about names ending with a \v\ or \sh\ sound, about the names , , , and , and about the surname . Here is what we have found. Gaelic spelling conventions changed around 1200, so we're going to suggest earlier- and later-period spellings for each name we discuss. The only name ending in \v\ other than that we can suggest is . This is the pre-1200 spelling of a name that was pronounced \SAHDHV\ early in your period. \DH\ represents the sound of the in . After 1200 or so, it was spelled and pronounced roughly \SIVE\. We found an instance of that name in 1048, so we can recommend it for the early part of your period [1, 4]. We could suggest several names with a \v\ sound in the middle, if that interests you. We can't suggest any names ending with the sound \sh\. , which you mentioned in your letter, appears to be a modern name: It is simply the modern Gaelic word for "freedom" used as a name [2]. The only example we have of is the wife of Crimthann Ma/r, a legendary Irish king. It is recorded in a 12th century Irish genealogy, but that source is known to blend reality with legend [3, 4]. We recommend you choose another name. (early period spelling) or was usually a masculine name, but was occasionally used as a feminine name in the 12th century [4]. In that period, it's a reasonable choice. The slash in the name represents an accent on the preceding letter. The name was pronounced \KAHSH-een~\, where \n~\ represents the sound of in the French word or the n-tilde in the Spanish . An abbess named died in 778 [4]. Later in period the name was spelled , but we have no evidence that it was used any later. We can't say it wasn't used later, but it isn't the best choice. It was pronounced \SHEEDH-v@\ around the beginning of your period and \SHEE-v@\ by the end. \@\ is a schwa, the sound of the in . (early spelling) or (late spelling) was another early name, which we've placed in the 7th and 8th centuries. As above, since we can't place it in your period, we can't recommend it. It would have been pronounced \KEN-CHEE-yehrn\ in the early part of your period. was a popular man's name in the 7th to 9th centuries [4], and we believe it's likely to have remained in use later, so we can recommend it at least for the early part of your period. is the early-period possessive form, the correct basic form to incorporate into the names of Fiachna's children; however, in a woman's name, Gaelic grammar requires another change: The initial \F\ becomes silent, a change that is indicated by changing the spelling to . Thus, Fiachna's daughter would have been called , pronounced \EEN-y@n EE@KH-n@\. After 1200 or so, the same phrase was spelled [5], but pronounced about the same. \KH\ is a sound that doesn't occur in English; it's the voiced form of the rasping sound in the Scottish word or German . In summary, from the names you asked about, we recommend , , or as 12th century names. None of these names is well-suited for a later period, but is perhaps a reasonable choice for the 13th century. 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 Raquel Buenaventura, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Amant le Marinier, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 17 Jan 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Dated Names Found in O/ Corra/in & Maguire's Irish Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). [2] Dwelly, Edward, _Faclair gaidhlig: A Gaelic Dictionary_ (Herne Bay [Eng.] E. Macdonald & co., 1902-[11]). [3] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's 'Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae'" (WWW: J. Mittleman 1999). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/obrien/ [4] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Caisse/ne, Si/thmaith, Crimthann, Fiachna, Sadb. [5] Woulfe, Patrick, _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Kansas City: Irish Genealogical Foundation), s.n. O/ Fiachna.