ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2868 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2868 ************************************ 2 Apr 2004 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for a clarification and pronunciation of the name we discussed in report 2846. In our previous report [1] we offered several possible forms of your given name: Johana Joana Johanetta Johaneta Jehanne In Provencal (Occitan), the initial is pronounced more like the standard English than as in modern French. Our best guess at the pronunciations of these names are \djoo-AH-nah\ for the first two and \djoo-ah-NAY-tah\ for the two diminutives, with \oo\ as in . The last form, , is probably a French spelling that doesn't reflect the local pronunciation of the name. It is a fine written form, but probably not a good model for how to pronounce the name. Your byname can probably be correctly used with or without the definite article. If you intend to use it literally, as a description of yourself, then you should include the article. If you think of it as an inherited surname, then either form is appropriate. However, in any case we'd expect it to be used in the feminine form in a woman's name: or . We have evidence that in the 15th century, women's surnames were still routinely used in the feminine form throughout France. In particular, we have evidence of it in 15th century Lyons [2], which is at the edge of the Occitan-speaking region. We recommend you pronounce the surname \lay-STRAHN-yah\ with the article or \ay-STRAHN-yah\ without [3]. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Juliana de Luna, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, and Mor inghean Chathail. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 2 Apr 2004 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Academy of S. Gabriel report 2846 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2846 [2] De/niau, Jean, Les Nomme/es des Habitants de Lyon en 1446 (Lyon: A. Rey, 1930). [3] More precisely, the word is pronounced \ay-STRAH-n~ah\, where the symbol \n~\ represents the sound of in modern French "mountain" or the n-tilde in modern Spanish .