ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2928 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2928 ************************************ 5 Oct 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate name for a Polish woman living between 1000 and 1550. Here is the information we have found. By the 14th century, forms of were very popular across central Europe, including Poland. [1] However, the earliest evidence we have found for any form of this name in northern or eastern Europe dates from circa 1265. [1] The earliest surviving records in Polish date from the late 13th century. In the early part of your period, documents in Poland were generally written in Latin. Therefore, we can only speculate on what the possible Polish form of a name would be. We find the following spellings recorded in Latin in the later part of your period: [1] Katerina ca.1265 Katherina 1340 Katharina 1385 Katherzina 1387 Katharzina 1397 These likely represent the Polish spelling , which by the 16th century was one of the most popular feminine names. [2,3] In the 13th through 16th centuries, we believe was pronounced roughly \kah-tah-ZHEE-nah\, where the \ZH\ is a voiced \sh\, the sound of the in . The exact sound of here is quite complicated, but this is a reasonable approximation. We do not recommend the name for before the 13th century. is a modern spelling of , the feminine form of 'from the place with the oaks'. (Here, the represents an a-ogonek, an with a reverse little hook below it.) [1] We find the feminine form in 1454, and the masculine forms 1386; 1399, 1411, 1421, 1423, 1464, 1479, 1485, 1493, 1499; 1436; 1490, 1494; 1496. [1] We believe is the most likely spelling of the byname from the 14th century on. We are not able to speculate on how this was pronounced in the earlier part of your period, but by the 15th C we believe it was pronounced roughly \daw~-BROAV-skah\. We do not know if it was in use earlier. Here, \aw~\ represents a nasal version of the vowel in , i.e. pronounced through the nose. \OA\ is the vowel in . is a fine name for a Polish woman living in the 14th-16th centuries. We do not recommend it for an earlier period. 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 Walraven van Nijmegen, Talan Gwynek, Maridonna Benvenuti, Arval Benicoeur, Gunnvor Silfraharr, and Kolozsvari Arpadne Julia. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 05 Oct 2004 -- References: [1] Taszycki, Witold (ed.), _Sl/ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_, vols. I-VII (Wrocl/aw: Zakl/ad Narodowy Imienia Ossolin/skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987). s.nn. Da,browska, Da,mbrowska, Katarzyna: c. 1265, s.n. Kasza: c. 1265. (The represents a slashed-l, and represents an with an accent). [2] Danuta Kopertowska. "Nazwy Osobowe Mieszkan/co/w Podkieleckich Wsi (1565-1694)" (Krako/w: Polska Akademia Nauk, Prace Komisji Je,zykonawstwa No. 56, 1988 [3] Golin/ski, Mateusz. "Biogramy mieszczan wrocl/awskich do kon/ca XIII wieku." (Wrocl/aw: Prace Historyczne XVIII, 1995)