ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2139 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2139 ************************************ 17 Oct 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a Scottish woman living between 1200 and 1600. Here is what we have found. You've mixed together two languages that didn't exist at the same time. is a name found in British, the language spoken by the inhabitants of Briton before and during the Roman rule of the island. This language continued in use until roughly the 6th century. The word "daughter" is Old or Middle Irish (or Gaelic), a language spoken in Ireland and parts of Scotland roughly from the mid-8th century to the end of the 12th century. There's simply no way elements of these two languages could ever have been combined. More generally, languages were essentially never mixed together in the same name. A person living in a region where more than one language was spoken might be identified in one language or the other, but we have seen virtually no evidence that two languages were mixed in a single rendering of a name. The name or was in use in the 1st and 2nd centuries. Its most famous bearer was a queen of the Iceni who led a rebellion against Rome in 60 CE [1]. The etymological root of this name is a word that meant "victory" or "profit", and that has led some people to equate it with the modern Latin-derived name [2]. is scribal error for [6, 7]. We have found no evidence that any feminine form of this name survived past the classical period, or that any form of the name was used in Scotland. The only example of that we can find is from early medieval Brittany [3]. Breton, the language of Brittany, is descended from British, just like Welsh. There are some etymologically-related Gaelic names. The masculine name was popular among the O/ Sullivan clan in the Middle Ages, and was a diminutive form. (The slash in the names represents an acute accent mark on the preceding letter.) A feminine form appears in medieval Irish literature [4]. We find no evidence that it was used by a real woman, but it is a plausible construction. was pronounced \BOO-@-dh@kh\, was \BOO-@-dh@-khahn\, and was \BOO-@dh-n@tch\. The symbol \@\ represents a schwa, the sound of the 'a' in . \dh\ represents the sound in , and \kh\ represents the raspy sound in the Scottish word or the German [5]. There are several directions you could go from here. We might be able to help you construct an authentic Romano-British name to fit . We can certainly help you choose an authentic late-period Scottish name. If you'd like to pursue either of those courses or if you have other questions, please write us again. You will probably find it useful to start by reading some articles on the web: Scottish Names 101 http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/scotnames101.shtml Quick and Easy Gaelic Names http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/quickgaelicbynames/ You also be interested in some other articles on Scottish and Irish names, which you can find from the index at: http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/qceltic.shtml If you'd like more information on the history of early British names and languages, you could read: The First Thousand Years of British Names http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/british1000/ 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, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Effrick neyn Kenyeoch. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 17 Oct 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Birley, Anthony, _The People of Roman Britain_ (London: B T Batsford, Ltd, 1979), pp.80, 103. [2] Evans, D. Ellis, _Gaulish Personal Names: a Study of some Continental Celtic Formations_ (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967), p.136ff. [3] De Courson, M. Aure/lien, _Cartulaire de L'Abbaye de Redon en Bretagne_ (Paris: Imprimerie Imperiale, 1963). [4] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.nn. Bu/adach, Bu/adacha/n, Bu/adnat. [5] You can find a recording of the word on the web at http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~laker/ipa/bach-ig-4.wav. [6] Peter Salway, _Roman Britain_ (Oxford: OUP, 1984), p.113, n.1, says that 'seems to derive from miscopying of the text of Tacitus during its transmission from Roman times'. [7] Bartrum, Peter C., _A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in history and legend up to about A.D. 1000_ (Aberystwyth: The National Library of Wales, 1993), s.n. Boudicca.