ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2953 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2953 ************************************ 15 Nov 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if , , and are appropriate given names for an 11th-century Welsh woman, and if would be an appropriate given name for her father. Here is the information we have found. , , , and are all standard modern forms of names that were found in the 13th century as , , , and , , , and , respectively. [1] We do not have many good sources for Welsh names, particularly women's names, before the thirteenth century. Therefore, we cannot say for sure whether the three feminine names were in fact used in the 11th century, but it is plausible that they were: We believe that few native Welsh names used in the 13th century were recent coinages. Based on other documents from the 11th century, we can offer probable spellings for these names [2,3]: Modern form likely 11th C form ----------- ------------------ Myfanwy Mimanou or Mibanou [4] Iwerydd Iwerit Madrun Matrun Rhiryd Ririt Though these spellings differ from the modern forms, the pronunciation does not differ that much. We cannot say for sure how these names were pronounced in the 11th century, but we can make an educated guess. or would have been pronounced roughly \m@-VAHN-oo\, where \@\ represents the sound of in or and \oo\ represents the sound in or . would have been pronounced roughly \MAH-dru"n\, where \u"\ the sound of u-umlaut as in German 'to fill'. More precisely, it is the vowel you get by pronouncing the sound of the in with your lips positioned as if you were saying as in . This sound is not found in English. would have been pronounced \ih-WEHR-idh\ or \uh-WEHR-idh\, where \dh\ is the sound of in , and would have been pronounced \HREE-ridh\. In the 11th century, the word for daughter was , pronounced \VAIRKH\, where \KH\ is the sound of in Scottish or German . For example, a woman who was the daughter of could have had the byname . 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 Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Arval Benicoeur, Gunnvor Silfraharr, Talan Gwynek, and Bronwyn ferch Gwyn ap Rhys. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 15 November 2004 -- References: [1] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welsh13.html [2] Davies, Wendy, "An Early Welsh Microcosm: Studies in the Llandaff Charters" (Royal Historical Society 1978). [3] Bartrum, P.C., _Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1966). p. 150, note 23 to Bonedd yr Arwyr [4] The reconstruction of this name is uncertain; there are plausible derivations for both spellings.