ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2557
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2557
************************************

13 Jun 2002
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Tailefhlaith inghean Gormgilla ui Flaithbertach> is an
appropriate name for an Irish woman living sometime after the Viking
invasions.  Here is what we have found.

The Viking invasions of Ireland began in the late 8th century.  The last of
the Viking kingdoms was conquered in the mid-12th century [1].  We've
focused on that period.

The feminine given name <Tailefhlaith> appears in Irish records dated 777,
782, and 882 [2, 3].  It was pronounced \TAHL-y@-l@th\, where \@\ stands for
the sound of the <a> in <about> or <soda>.

<Gormgilla> was a rare masculine name; we have only one dated example, a
man who died in 967 [4].  It was pronounced \GORM-gil-l@\, and the phrase
<ingen Gormgilla> "daughter of Gormgilla" was pronounced \EE-ny@n
GHORM-gil-l@\.  \GH\ stands for a sound not used in English: It is the
voiced version of the raspy <ch> sound in the Scottish word <loch> or
German <Bach>.  Note that <inghean> is a later-period spelling of the Irish
word for "daughter".  Before 1200, it was spelled <ingen>.

The masculine name <Flaithbertach> was rather more common; we've found a
number of examples ranging from 770 to the 12th century and beyond [2, 5].
In the period we're considering it was pronounced \FLAH-v@r-t@kh\, where
\kh\ represents the unvoiced sound of the <ch> in Scottish <loch> or German
<Bach>.

The name you've asked about means "Tailefhlaith daughter of Gormgilla O/
Flaithbertaich".  The surname <O/ Flaithbertaig> literally meant "male
descendant of Flaithbertach" and was eventually used to mean "male member
of the O/ Flaithbertaig clan".  This style of surname came into use in the
10th century [6].  The slash in the name represents an acute accent mark on
the preceding letter.  The change in spelling of <Flaithbertach> to
<Flaithbertaig> is required by Gaelic grammar: <Flaithbertaig> is the
genitive (possessive) form of the name.  The same grammatical rule causes
<O/> to become <ui/> in your name.  However, in your period, these words
weren't yet spelled <O/> and <ui/>.  There was great variation in their
spelling; we'll use <hua> and <hui>.

When this clan name is included in a woman's name, it also undergoes
another grammatical change called "lenition".  The initial <F> softens and
becomes silent; that is indicated in spelling either by placing a dot over
the <F> or an <h> after it.  (This is the same reason why the <fh> in
<Tailefhlaith> is silent; you could also write that name with a dot over
the <f>.  It is best to use one convention consistently each time you write
your name.)

If you want a name suitable for the 8th or 9th century, then the simple
patronymic <Tailefhlaith ingen Gormgilla> is an excellent choice.  If you
particularly want to include a clan surname, then you'll need to place
yourself in the 10th century or later.  That's a bit later than our
evidence for <Tailefhlaith>, but the combination <Tailefhlaith ingen
Gormgilla hui Fhlaithbertaig> is still plausible.  It was pronounced
\TAHL-y@-l@th EE-ny@n GHORM-gil-l@ wee LAH-v@r-t@ch\.  The \ch\ at the end
of the last word here represents the hissy sound of the <ch> in the German
word <ich>, like the <sh> in <shine>, but a bit further back in your mouth.

If you want to include all three elements but still keep your persona in
the 8th or 9th century, then you might consider <Tailefhlaith ingen
Gormgilla mec Fhlaithbertaig>, which means "Tailefhlaith daughter of
Gormgilla mac Flaithbertaig" [7, 8].  In other words, it identifies both
your father and his father.  The word <mec> was pronounced \vek\ [9].


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 Mari neyn Brian, Talan Gwynek,
Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Adelaide de
Beaumont.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  13 Jun 2002


 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

References

[1] "Ireland" in The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition (WWW:
bartleby.com, 2001).
http://www.bartleby.com/65/ir/Ireland.html

[2] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Dated Names Found in O/ Corra/in & Maguire's
Irish Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/ocm/

[3] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Feminine
Names" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001), s.n. Taileflaith.
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Feminine/Taileflaith.shtml 

[4] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The
Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Gormgilla.

[5]  Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Masculine
Names" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2002), s.n. Flaithbertach.
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/Flaithbertach.shtml

[6] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on
Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983),
s.n. u/a, citing <Oengus .h. Maelsechnaill> from the Annals of Ulster
(an.914), <Tigernach .h. Cleirigh> ibid. (an.918), <Ruaidri .h. Canannan>
ibid. (an.946)).

[7] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "Annals of the Four
Masters, vol. 1", six volumes (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts:
a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997-98), entries
M642.4 <h-Uaisle inghe_n Suibhne, mic Colma/in, be_n Faola/in, righ Laighen>
M794.12 <Du/nfhlaith, inghe_n Flaithbhe_rtaigh, mic Loingsigh>, etc.
The number after the 'M' is the date of the entry.  The symbol <e_> is a
long 'e'.
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005A.

[8] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "Annals of the Four
Masters, vol. 2", six volumes (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts:
a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997-98), entries
M985.5 <Mo/r, inghe_n Donnchadha, mic Ceallaigh, bainioghain Ereann>,
M991.8 <Mo/r, inghe_n Taidhg an Tuir, mic Cathail, bainri/oghan
Ereann>, and others.
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005B.

[9] More precisely, <mec> was pronounced \bhek\, where \bh\ is like a \v\
but made by vibrating the lips together rather than vibrating the lower lip
against the upper teeth; and nasalized.