ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3319
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3319
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From: Coblaith Mhuimhneach 
26 Apr 2009

26 April 2009


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked about appropriate Bohemian forms of <Michael Zidel> in a  
German context, from as close as possible to the late 14th century.

First, we'd like to apologize for the time this letter has taken; we  
hope the information is still of use to you.

We found the following forms of <Michael> used as given names in 14th- 
century Bohemia, all in German contexts [1]:

     <Mychel>    1381
     <Michel>    1381, 1392, 1396
     <Michl>    1385
     <Michil>    1393

We believe that <Michel> is the most typical Bohemian form of the  
name from this period, and that it would be pronounced something like  
\MIH-kh@l\, as would the other forms listed here.  (Here \IH\ stands  
for a sound midway between the vowels of <mitt> and <meet>, and \kh\  
is similar to the sound of <ch> in Scottish <loch> 'lake' or German  
<ach> 'oh' and <Bach>.  Here and elsewhere in this letter, \@\  
represents the sound of <a> in <soda>.)

We found the following forms of <Zidel> used as bynames in the same  
period and setting [1]:

     <Seydl>    1386
     <Sydel>    1381
     <Seydel>    1391

We also found <Zeydl> used as a given name in 1399 and as a byname in  
1409.

Any of these bynames would be appropriate with any of the given names  
above.  We believe that all of them were pronounced roughly \ZAY-d@l\.

Please write us again if any part of it was unclear or if you have  
further questions. We were assisted in researching and writing this  
letter by Walraven van Nijmegen, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch  
Catmael, Danneel van der Donck, and Ursula Georges.

For the Academy,

AElfwynn Leoflaede dohtor and Coblaith Muimnech

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References:
[1] Schwarz, Ernst, _Sudetendeutsche Familiennamen aus  
vorhussitischer Zeit_ (Koeln: Blehlau Verlag, 1957); s.nn.  
<A"scherer>, <Flicker>, <Widmann>, <Flachauer>, <Rauhmann>,  
<Frischbier>, <Pilz>, <Seidel>