ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2488
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2488
************************************

26 Aug 2002
From: Ursula Whitcher 


Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked whether we could suggest any appropriate diminutives of the 13th 
century Occitan feminine name <Aicelina>.  Before we start, we'd like to 
apologize for our slow response time; we hope the following information is 
still useful to you.

<Aicelina> is one form of a name that appears in early medieval Latin 
records from France as <Adzelena> ca.1030, <Adselina> 988, 1082-97, 
<Azilina> 994, <Azelina> 942-54, <Azellina> 993-96, <Ascelina> 1032-64, 
1113, 12th c., <Asselina> 970, <Acilina> 1024, <Acelina> ca.1050, 
<Accelena> 1043, and <Ezelina> 1027.  All of these forms of the name are 
based on the Germanic root <Athal-> or <Adal->. [1]  In fact, we believe 
this name was originally a double diminutive of a shorter name based on 
<Athal-> or <Adal->, though <Aicelina> seems to have become a name in its 
own right.

The formation of <Aicelina> from the root <Athal-> or <Adal-> follows a 
general pattern: during your period, diminutives of names based on Germanic 
roots were usually formed by adding a diminutive suffix to the root. [2, 3, 
4]  Typical feminine suffixes included <-a>, <-eta>, <-etta>, <-essa>, 
<-ina>, <-ona>, <-asia>, <-ella>, <-auda>, <-elia>, <-ena>, <-aria>, and 
<-ista>. [5]

Since you expressed interest in names that are shorter than <Aicelina>, we 
looked for other names based on the same root.  In documents from France 
written in Latin, we found <Adsa> 966, <Asza> 9th-10th c., <Adzila> 1019, 
<Azela> 1129, and <Azeca> 1046. [1]  However, we are not certain what form 
these names might have taken in Occitan.  Our best guess is a form like 
<Aiza>, pronounced \EYE-dzah\, or <Aizella>, pronounced \eye-DZEL-@\ or 
\eye-DZEL-ah\.  (Here \@\ represents the sound of the letter 'a' in <soda> 
and <about>.  This sound is called schwa.) [6]

We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you will not 
hesitate to write again if any part of this was unclear or if you have 
further questions.  Research and commentary on this letter were provided by 
Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, Arval Benicoeur, Galiana de Baiona, 
Iago ab Adam, Mari neyn Brian, and Catriona inghean ui Bhraonain.

For the Academy,
Argantgui filia Catmaili et Ursula filia Georgii

-- 
References

[1] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de 
l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, (Paris: Centre National de la 
Recherche Scientifique, 1972). I:19b

[2] 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) p. 135.

[3] Arval Benicoeur, "Languedoc Names circa 1300" (WWW: privately 
published, 1998) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/toulouse/.  Actual 
examples of Occitan diminutives that we found tended to add syllables to a 
name, rather than remove them.  Masculine examples that we found in the 
13th century are <Nicolet> from <Nicole>, <Guionet> from <Guion>, <Filipot> 
and <Filipon> from <Filip>.

[4] Talan Gwynek, "Late Period Feminine Names from the South of France" 
(WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999) 
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/latefrenchfem/.  In the 15th-16th 
centuries, we find <Marieta> from <Mary> and <Johanetta> from <Johanna>; 
the only examples that we have of names being shortened in diminutive form 
are <Tonyna>, probably from <Anthonye>, and <Margot>, from <Margarette>.

[5] Compan pp. 140-1.

[6] Brenon, Anne, _Le petit livre aventureux des pre/noms occitans au temps 
du Catharisme_ (Tolosa: Loubatie\res, 1992) s.n. <Adzelena>.  Brenon 
cross-references this name to <Adelina> or <Aidelina>, apparently a Latin 
form, which she has from the 13th century. She says that it may be the same 
name as <Aicelina> and that the Occitan form might better be <Aizelina>.