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ArchivesRe: How wrong is this invented name?
in reply to a message by Mike C
The Onomasticon lists Iseldis, Iseweard/Isweard/Isuwarth/Isuuardus/Iseward, Isgaer, Isolf/Isulf, Ishard, Ishere, Ismaer and Isgod. Many may be abbreviations of Isen- rather than representing Is "ice" (dative Ise), but it's impossible to be certain, and Is as a rune name has the pedigree for onomastic use, and the correlates in Frost- (Frostulf) and Hrím- (rime-frost, in Hrimgrim and Hrimweald).
The reduction from ȝiefu/ȝefu (the oblique cases are all ȝiefe/ȝefe) to -iva has two causes, 1: the g/ȝ in OE is actually the voiced palatal fricative /ʝ/, near enough to the approximant /j/ (consonantal i) to be indistinguishable and sharing a common letter in OE. 2: the f represents both the sound of modern f and v; so the change in spelling from -giefu to -iva reflects pronunciation, not just Latinization.
The reduction from ȝiefu/ȝefu (the oblique cases are all ȝiefe/ȝefe) to -iva has two causes, 1: the g/ȝ in OE is actually the voiced palatal fricative /ʝ/, near enough to the approximant /j/ (consonantal i) to be indistinguishable and sharing a common letter in OE. 2: the f represents both the sound of modern f and v; so the change in spelling from -giefu to -iva reflects pronunciation, not just Latinization.
This message was edited 6/6/2016, 10:24 PM
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