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ArchivesBaudovinia/Baudonivia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudovinia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudonivia
Does anyone know about the origin of these names? I first saw it as Baudovinia and thought it might be a Latinised feminine form of Baldwin, but then I found the variant Baudonivia. Which is the original form, and what is the origin if it is not from Baldwin?
Thank you for your time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudonivia
Does anyone know about the origin of these names? I first saw it as Baudovinia and thought it might be a Latinised feminine form of Baldwin, but then I found the variant Baudonivia. Which is the original form, and what is the origin if it is not from Baldwin?
Thank you for your time.
1
Replies
In fact, both names are legitimate derivations from Germanic names. As you suggest, Old French Baud- derives from Germanic BALD-. The second element is WIN ("friend") in the first case and NIU "new" in the second case. In ancient times, NIU was very productively forming feminine names, nowadays it only survived in Scandinavia (as -ny, e.g. in Dagny)
When both name forms apply to the same historic person, it is very hard to judge what spelling/naming is the "correct" one.
EDIT: In medieval handwriting, the letters "n" and "u/v" (not yet distinguished from each other) can look confusingly similar. It can happen that one editor reads Baudovinia and another one Baudonivia given the same original manuscript.
When both name forms apply to the same historic person, it is very hard to judge what spelling/naming is the "correct" one.
EDIT: In medieval handwriting, the letters "n" and "u/v" (not yet distinguished from each other) can look confusingly similar. It can happen that one editor reads Baudovinia and another one Baudonivia given the same original manuscript.
This message was edited 6/19/2016, 9:56 AM
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The old French derivation from BALD is perhaps mere folk etymology in this case. Baudoin, Bauduin do occur as OF forms of Baldwin, but without context to place it in that frame, it's pure speculation to link the two. Pertinently, the prevalent recorded form is Baldwin/Baldewin until the13th. C.. Baudo is a common-Germanic word that dates back to the oldest recorded Celto-Germanic names. OE Beadu (obl. Beadwe, OE ea representing the dipthong ae+a), ON Böð (gen. Böðvar), OS Badu, OHG Batu < Gmc. *Baudwo < Kelto-Germ. bodu̯ā war, battle from a PIE root bhedh- to pierce. The Onomasticon lists 33 names starting with Beadu- in the OE period, NOT counting the Saxon and High German forms, including 4 Beaduwines, a Baduuinus and a Bathewine. Beadu- is in fact the first element of Beowulf (a punning abbreviation of Beadowulf [Beowulf=Bee-wulf, i.e. bear, a poetic word for warrior]).
This message was edited 6/22/2016, 6:48 AM
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Förstemann (1900) discards a connection between OS Badu, OHG Batu and a name element BAUD, but you have a point here. The French shift of al to au occurred probably too late to explain the Baud- in Baudovinia/Baudonivia. Förstemann suggests a derivation from Ancient German beudan, Gothic biudan, "to command". This name element occurs later in names like Bodo.
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Philologically, his assessment is flawed. It's more likely that a name Bad- would shift to Bod- (as in Norse and English dialects), not the other way around. In Northumbrian we have éa from Gmc eu, but then the form should be Béadwin/BéadEwin, not BeadUwin, and hardly explains Baud- or Bad- for Beud- (here we should also read éa as an é-a dipthong, with "back" a nearly indistinguishable from the o of the other English dialects anyway, not the normal OE representation of the ǽ-a dipthong). I also think he is in error if he says names such as Bodo are "from" an element Beud-. They are cognate, certainly, but substantives "bod" command/message, "bodo" messenger are not formed "from" a verb *beutan "command, offer, invite", that would be *beudaz, Goth biuþs/biud-, ON bjōðr, OE bēod, OHG. beot "table", in plural "dishes, plates", i.e. "offerings". Onomastically it is of course impossible to distinguish whether biud- represents biudan or biud- etc.; nor bod/bot "message" from bodo/boto "messenger". That's merely the whim of the modern interpreter.
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There are two problem though:
-win/wine "friend" is an exclusively masculine name ending in the historic period (e.g. Baldwin). Femine names ending -vine are modern (18th C. and later), and tend to be feminized non-Germanic names (e.g. Sorvine for Severin). The feminine equivalent win/wyn "joy, desire" is regularly -wunnia (unni becomes ynn in OE, with y representing the front u of German uber), so a Baudovinia would have to combine an ancient continental form of Beadu, and a late English form of wynn, not particularly plausible.
-niu is not much better as an interpretation of the ending. It does form many feminine names, but it's practically unknown outside Scandinavia, and even there most forms are relatively modern, inspired by misinterpretations of pet forms such as Othny, Steinny etc.
So our two candidates for the deuterothemes are both unlikely, if the name/names are genuinely feminine.
There remain two possibilities. Most probable is that the gender has been misinterpreted by whoever collected the name. -ia may be in error for -is; mis-recorded on the assumption that Gmc Baudovini was feminine rather than masculine; or re-interpreted in more modern times on the assumption that "wini" is feminine, like Winnie (also traditionally male).
There is a slim possibility that this is a genuinely feminine ancient name, with a heretofore unrecognized deuterotheme, represented by OE win/winn, OHG winne, ON vin, Gothic winja "pasture/meadow", by analogy with OE haeth, ON heithr, OHG heide, Got haithi "pasture, heath", but we would have to speculate that it never gained much use, and that it has always been misinterpreted, just as f. -heide is commonly misinterpreted as m. -heit "manner, form, state".
-win/wine "friend" is an exclusively masculine name ending in the historic period (e.g. Baldwin). Femine names ending -vine are modern (18th C. and later), and tend to be feminized non-Germanic names (e.g. Sorvine for Severin). The feminine equivalent win/wyn "joy, desire" is regularly -wunnia (unni becomes ynn in OE, with y representing the front u of German uber), so a Baudovinia would have to combine an ancient continental form of Beadu, and a late English form of wynn, not particularly plausible.
-niu is not much better as an interpretation of the ending. It does form many feminine names, but it's practically unknown outside Scandinavia, and even there most forms are relatively modern, inspired by misinterpretations of pet forms such as Othny, Steinny etc.
So our two candidates for the deuterothemes are both unlikely, if the name/names are genuinely feminine.
There remain two possibilities. Most probable is that the gender has been misinterpreted by whoever collected the name. -ia may be in error for -is; mis-recorded on the assumption that Gmc Baudovini was feminine rather than masculine; or re-interpreted in more modern times on the assumption that "wini" is feminine, like Winnie (also traditionally male).
There is a slim possibility that this is a genuinely feminine ancient name, with a heretofore unrecognized deuterotheme, represented by OE win/winn, OHG winne, ON vin, Gothic winja "pasture/meadow", by analogy with OE haeth, ON heithr, OHG heide, Got haithi "pasture, heath", but we would have to speculate that it never gained much use, and that it has always been misinterpreted, just as f. -heide is commonly misinterpreted as m. -heit "manner, form, state".
This message was edited 6/22/2016, 6:48 AM
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