ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2074 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2074 ************************************ 2 May 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an 11th century Irishwoman. This letter is a brief answer to your question. , with a sharp accent on the 'e', and were both used in your period [1]. However, the way you've combined them isn't quite right. First, the word for "daughter" was spelled in your period; the spelling arose only after 1200 or so. Second, you need the possessive (genitive) form of in your surname, which is . Put together, the name "Be/binn of clan O/ Brian" would have been pronounced \BAY-veen~ EEN-y@n ee VREE-ahn~\. The symbol \n~\ represents the sound of the n-tilde in Spanish words like or of the in French . \@\ represents a schwa, the sound of the in . Gaelic grammar forces the \B\ sound in \Brian\ to soften to \V\ in a woman's surname. If you prefer your name to mean "Be/binn daughter of Brian", then you'll want , pronounced \BAY-veen~ EEN-y@n VREE-ahn~\ We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek and Mari N'Brian. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 2 May 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990), s.n. Be/binn, Brian.