ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3125 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3125 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 27 Jul 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate name for a Frenchman living in the early 1400's. Here is the information we have found. With a few minor corrections, your name is fine. We found a man named in Picardy in the 14th century, and in one study of names from early 15th century Paris, is the 8th most common man's name. [1,2] (where the ^ represents a circumflex accent over the previous letter) is the modern name of various French places. [3] The place-name is from Latin 'a fortified encampment'. [5] This Latin word developed into the Old French place-name [9,10] and it wasn't until the 17th century that the in as replaced by . [4] Therefore, for the 14th century we recommend the spelling . [10] In sum, is a fine name for a 14th century French man; it would have been pronounced roughly \peh-REE~N d@ SHAH-tr@z\, where the \EE~\ is nasalized and the \@\ is the sound of in or . 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 Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Ines Alfon, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 27 July 2006 -- References: [1] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967), section 3 [2] Friedemann, Sara L. (aka Aryanhwy merch Catmael), "French Names from Paris, 1421, 1423 & 1438" (WWW: privately published, 2002-2003). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/paris1423.html [3] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987), s.n. Cha^tres [4] During the course of the 11th through 13th centuries, the first in words like gradually ceased to be pronounced in most dialects. [6] It continued to be written, however, much as we still write the now-silent and in . [7] It wasn't until 1740 that the was officially dropped by the French Academy and replaced by a circumflex accent over the previous vowel. This use of the circumflex had actually been proposed as early as 1549 and occasionally appears in the 16th century, but such spellings are the exception, not the rule. [8] [5] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963), s.n. Castres [6] Pope, M.K., _From Latin to Modern French_ (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1966, sections 377-8. [7] Ewert, Alfred, _The French Language_ (London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1953), p. 114. [8] Pope, op. cit., section 738. [9] Ewert, op. cit., sections 29, 45, 93, 100, 173, 184 [10] Dauzat & Rostaing, op. cit., s.n. Arpajon has 13th C and s.n. Castres has 1247. --------- Addition by Aryanhwy 05 August 2006: The client wrote us back asking about instead of ; we sent him the following: While researching for your report, we found a woman recorded as in 1311. [1] During the 14th century, would have been pronounced roughly \d@ shar-tr@s\, where \@\ is the sound of in or . We are not sure which of the two syllables in the place name carried the stress. [1] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967), p. 320.