ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 965
http://www.s-gabriel.org/965
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* NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports     *
*       contain errors that we haven't yet      *
*       corrected.  Please use it with caution. *
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* NOTE: Later research turned up additional     *
*       information relevant to this report.    *
*       See the end of the letter for details.  *
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From: "S Friedemann" 
24 Jul 1998

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked our help choosing a name for a 16th century Scottish Gaelic woman,
with <Siobhan> or <Isabel> as your first name and <Lachlan> or <Duncan> as
your father's name.  Here's what we've found.

Late in our period, there were two important languages spoken in Scotland:
Gaelic, which was the same language as the one used in Ireland, and Scots,
which was closely related to English.  From about the 14th century onward,
Gaelic was spoken mostly in the Highlands, while Scots was spoken in the
Lowlands and towns.

<Isabel> is an English or Scots name.  In a collection of Gaelic
poetry compiled in the early 16th century, recorded in Gaelic but
using Scots language spelling conventions rather than standard Gaelic
spelling, the name is spelled <Issobell> [4].  We believe that
<Isabel> was adopted into Gaelic as <Iosobail> or <Iosobal>.  It was
pronounced \EES-a-bell\.  For more information on Gaelic use of this
name, please see report 2354 at 

  http://www.s-gabriel.org/2354


<Siobha/n> is a late-period spelling of the Irish name <Siba/n>, which was
an adaptation of the Anglo-Norman <Jehanne> (Joan).  We have not found this
name used in Scotland, and we believe it was not used.  A related name,
<Seo/naid>, a Gaelic adaptation of <Jonet>, was used in Scottish Gaelic, and
we recommend that name rather than <Siobha/n>.  It is pronounced \SHO-nitch\
[5].  (The slashes in the names represent accents over the preceding
letters.)

<Lachlann>, pronounced \LAHKH-lahn\, is a Scottish Gaelic name, in use in
the 16th century [2].  <Duncan> is a Scots form of <Donnchadh>, pronounced
\DONN-kha\. [1]  Either one is a fine choice for your persona's father's
name.  In both pronunciations, \kh\ represents the harsh, rasping <ch> sound
in Scottish <loch> or German <Bach>.

A Gaelic speaking woman in your period would have been known as her father's
daughter.  For example, <Iosobeal inghean Lachlainn>, pronounced \EES-a-bell
NEE-yen LAHKH-lahn\, would mean "Iosobeal daughter of Lachlann."  The change
in spelling from <Lachlann> to <Lachlainn> is a requirement of Gaelic
grammar; it is equivalent to <John> vs. <John's>.  The grammatical changes
in spelling sometimes effect pronunciation.  For example, <Seo/naid inghean
Donnchaidh>, "Seonaid daughter of Donnchadh," is pronounced \SHO-nitch
NEE-yen DON-khee\.  The \kh\ here is as above.

In your period, the written language of Scotland was Scots.  Very few
documents were written in Gaelic, so even though you had a Gaelic name, it
would have been written in Scots.  Gaelic names were sometimes rendered
phonetically in Scots, and sometimes translated to Scots names that were
considered equivalent.  Thus, the two names in the previous paragraph might
have been written as <Isobel nin Lauchlane> and <Jonet neyn Duncan>, or in
various other forms.

We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you will not
hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further
questions.  Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval
Benicoeur, Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte, and Talan Gwynek.

For the Academy,
--Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael Caermyrdin
    July 24, 1998

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References:

[1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The
Lilliput Press, 1990).

[2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and
History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986).

[3] Royal Irish Academy, _Dictionary of the Irish Language: based mainly on
Old and Middle Irish materials_ (Dublin : Royal Irish Academy, 1983).

[4] Thomson, Derick S., ed. _The Companion to Gaelic Scotland_ (Oxford:
Basil Blackwell, 1983).

[5] Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte, "Early 16th Century Scottish Town Women's
Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996).

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Correction, 18 Oct 2001, Arval: After a word ending in 'n', like <inghean>,
the letter 'D' does not lenite.

Correction, 2 Oct 2004, Aryanhwy and Arval: Replaced the paragraph on
<Isabel> because we have no actual period example of either of the
Gaelic spellings <Iosobail> or <Iosobal>.  The old version was:

  <Isabel> is an English or Scots name.  We believe it was adopted
  into Gaelic as <Iosobail> or <Iosobal>, and we've found the spelling
  <Iseabail> recorded in the 15th century [4].  It was never common in
  Gaelic, but it was used occasionally.  It was pronounced
  \EES-a-bell\.