ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2369 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2369 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 4 Oct 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a Welsh woman living in 1400. This letter is a brief answer to your question. In your period, Wales was inhabited by Welsh speakers and English speakers. Names were recorded in both those languages, as well as Welsh-influenced Latin and English-influenced Latin. The same person's name could be spelled quite differently depending on the linguistic context; and these spellings were often quite different from modern Welsh spellings. is a fine name for your period. This is the typical Welsh spelling, which we have found in documents from the late 13th century and mid-15th century [3, 4]. In English-influenced records, it was more typical to drop the initial (e.g. ); and it was common to render the as or (e.g. , ). is an uncommon and distinctly English spelling variant of the word "daughter". We've found this spelling in 1294 [5]. However, the overwhelmingly most typical spelling in 13th and 14th century records, both English and Welsh, was . is a Welsh borrowing of the Gaelic name (The slashes represent accents over the previous letters.) The spelling appears in documents written in Wales in 1256 and 1326 [1, 2]. This is a characteristically English spelling (specifically use of "th" to represent the sound at the beginning of the word ). The typical Welsh-language spelling of the name for this period is [1]. In summary, is a possible though rather unusual late 13th century rendering of a very reasonable Welsh name. In 14th century Welsh-language texts, we would expect it to be spelled . In Anglo-Latin records, would be unsurprising, but is the most likely spelling. In all spellings, the name was pronounced \gwen-LLEE-ahn VAIRKH EY-dhahn\ [6]. \ll\ represents the unilateral hiss, a sound found in no European language other than Welsh. You make this sound by positioning your tongue as if to say a normal \L\ and then blowing air over one side of your tongue. \KH\ stands for the rasping sound in the Scottish word or German . \EY\ represents the sound of the word and \dh\ is the sound of the in . We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Maridonna Benvenuti, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Juliana de Luna, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 4 Oct 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1985), s.n. Aeddan. [2] Roderick, A.J., & William Rees, "Ministers' Accounts for the Lordships of Abergavenny, Grosmont, Skenfrith and White Castle: PRO, Ministers' Accounts Bundle 1094, No. 11; Part I -- The Lordship of Abergavenny" in South Wales and Monmouth Record Society Publications: No. 2, 1950. [3] Pierce, T. Jones, "Lay Subsidy Account 242/50 (AD 1293)" in _The Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies_, 5:142-8, 1930; Manor of Nevyn. [4] Lewis, E.A. "The Court Rolls of the Manor of Broniarth (Co. Mont.), 1429-64" in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 1944, 11:54-73. [5] Roberts, Richard Arthur ed., "The Court Rolls of the Lordship of Ruthin or Dyffryn-Clwydd of the Reign of King Edward the First", Cymmroddorion Record Series, No. 2. (London, 1893). [6] Unlike most Welsh names and words ending in <-ian>, in this particular name, that ending has two syllables, meaning that the <-i-> gets the primary stress in pronunciation. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, 2 May 2002, Arval: Based on Tanglws' comments on 2567, I've corrected the pronunciation of and added the explanation in note [6].