ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2429 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2429 ************************************ 25 Dec 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a woman from 13th century Provence. You also asked for information on appropriate surnames and on pronunciation. This letter is a brief answer to your question. You've chosen a fine name: This exact spelling appears in 13th century Occitan records [1]. The same name appears in the Latinized forms c.1050 and 1043 from Marseille; and as c.1030 and 1024 in Savigny, near Lyons [2]. A closely related name appears as in 13th century Nice [3]. The 12th century Catalan that you found is probably the same name as well [4]. In the form , the name was pronounced \ey-tseh-LEE-nah\, with \ey\ as in . The \ts\ may have already become \s\ by your period; we're not sure. A locative byname is quite appropriate for your period. You are correct that the general form of that sort of surname was followed by a placename [5, 6]. Note that placenames were often spelled differently in medieval Occitan than they are in modern French. We may be able to give you an appropriate spelling for a particular placename. 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 Adelaide de Beaumont and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 25 Dec 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Brenon, Anne, _Le petit livre aventureux des pre/noms occitans au temps du Catharisme_ (Tolosa: Loubatie\res, 1992), s.n. Aicelina. [2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972), I:19b. [3] Compan, Andre/, _E/tude d'Anthroponymie Provenc,ale: Les Noms de Personne dans le Comte/ de Nice aux XIIe, XIVe, et XVe Sie\cles_, thesis at the Universite/ de Paris IV, Dec. 1975 (Paris: Librarie Honore Champion, 1976). [4] Juliana de Luna., "Catalan Names in Latin Contexts: the late 12th century" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/catalan12/ [5] Ramons lo Montalbes, "French/Occitan Names From The XII And XIII Century" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). This article illustrates some of the common forms of byname in 12th and 13th century Occitan. Make sure to look at the second column, the Occitan forms. The French forms in the first column are modern. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ramon/occitan/ [6] Chambers, Frank M., _Proper Names in the Lyrics of the Troubadours_ (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1971).