ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2886 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2886 ************************************ 13 Jun 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know how the Oghamic masculine name was pronounced in the 6th-7th C, and whether a byname based on the Oghamic form of would be appropriate for this period as well. Here is the information we have found. The earliest surviving written form of Irish dates from around the 4th century. It was written on stone in the alphabet called Ogham. When this writing tradition developed, the Irish language was very different from the medieval form, about as different as Latin is from French. This stage of the language is variously called Primitive Irish, Ogam Irish, or Oghamic Irish. This writing system continued in active use into the 7th century, and while it was in active use, its users tended to write a conservative form of the language corresponding to what was spoken when the system was developed. The spoken language, however, was undergoing considerable change. When a new writing system using Roman letters was developed in the 6th century, its users broke with tradition and wrote a language much closer to what was actually being spoken. This stage of the language, as recorded from the late 7th century to the mid-10th century, is called Old Irish. is a fine choice for your given name. It is a precursor of the Old Irish name (where the slashes represent acute accents over the previous letters). [1] In the 6th and 7th centuries, it was probably pronounced roughly \MY-lahn\. Some form of was certainly in use in your period. The Irish annals, which were written in the later Middle Ages concerning events that happened, in some cases, hundreds of years before, reference various men from the 6th and 7th centuries by the name ; is the standard Old Irish and Middle Irish form of the name. (Middle Irish Gaelic developed from Old Irish Gaelic c.900 and was in use until c1200). [2] The question then, is how to construct a plausible Oghamic Irish form of . The Celtic root of the name is * (the asterisk means that this scholarly reconstruction has not actually been found in any inscription). [3,4,5,6] In Oghamic Irish, this became * or *. [7] A patronymic byname based on this name would be or , meaning 'son of Dumnovalas' or 'son of Dumnavalas'. (The change from to is a requirement of Irish grammar; it is the same as the change from to in English). This would have been pronounced roughly \mahk DOOBH~-no@l\, where \oo\ is the sound of in and ; \@\ is the sound of in or ; and \BH~\ represents a nasalized version of the sound of in Spanish 'a wolf' and of in Spanish 'a grape'. To make this sound, set yourself to say \b\, but relax your lips slightly so that the air can escape between them with a sort of buzzing sound. (It's rather like blowing out a candle, except that your vocal cords are vibrating. Since the sound is nasalized, some air should also escape through your nose.) Because the writing system was more conservative than the spoken language, the spellings look more complicated than the actual pronunciation. In particular, the spelling preserved final syllables in writing after they had ceased to be spoken. In sum, , meaning 'Mailagnas son of Dumnovalas' and pronounced \MY-lahn mahk DOOBH~-no@l\, is a fine Oghamic form of the Old Irish name . [8] We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Mari neyn Brian, Juliana de Luna, Roberd mac Cormaic, and Effrick neyn Kennyeoch. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 13Jun2004 -- References: [1] Heather Rose Jones (Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn) "Some Masculine Ogham Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999-2001). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/ogham/ [2] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "The Annals of Ulster" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997) http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100001/. U543.2 Forggus & Domnall, duo filii Mc. Erce, uictores erant U547.1 Domnall & Forgus duo filii Muirchertaig mc. Earca U550.1 Fergus & Domnall .i. da mc. Muirchertaig m. Erce U561.1 Forggus & Domnall, da mc. Mc Ercae, .i. da mc. Muirchertaigh mc. Muireadaigh mc. Eoghain mc. Neill U566.1 Forgus & Domnall U566.2 Mors quoque Domnaill filii Muirchertaig mc. Earca U572.1 Echaid mc. Domnaill, .i. m. Muirchertaigh mc. Erca U573.3 Uel hoc anno bas Domnaill mc. Muirche_rtaigh mc. E_rca U580.1 Colggu filius Domnaill filii Muirchertaigh mc. Muireadhaigh mc. mc. Eoghain U628.7 Domnall mc. Aedha mc. Ainmire_ch U642.1 Mors Domnaill m. Aedo regis Hibernie [3] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). s.n. Domnall [4] Evans, D. Ellis, _Gaulish Personal Names: a Study of some Continental Celtic Formations_ (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967). pp. 196, 269ff [5] Watkins, Calvert, The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo- European roots, 2nd ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000). s.rr. *dheub-, *wal- [6] Buck, Carl Darling, _A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages_ (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988). 1.1 [7] Thurneysen, Rudolf, _A Grammar of Old Irish_, trans. by D.A. Binchy & Osborn Bergin (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1975). [8] Like with the change from to , the change from to is a requirement of Gaelic grammar.