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ArchivesRe: Does Melvin come from Maethelwine
in reply to a message by elbowin
Please know that I am not suggesting to change the entry in the database, I'm only asking a question. I'm sorry if it appeared that I was suggesting that.
Thank you for clarifying about the book, and I know these websites are not searching for highest quality, but I thought that there may be a reliable source where the websites found their information that someone on these message boards may have known of, since it was a commonly cited origin for Melvin.
I looked at the book you cited, the Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges one, and it says that Melvin is of "uncertain origin but probably from Melville".
I'm definitely not disputing that Melvin comes from Melville, but when I asked the question, I wondered if Maethelwine was a second way Melvin had been derived too.
On the /v/ /w/ discrepancy, in Old English, yes, thank you, you're correct, the element WINE would appear with a /w/, such as when Edwin is derived from Eadwine. So yes, I see that it was not derived from Old English Maethelwine. However, what about a possible Germanic form Mathalwin, derived from the elements "mathal" and "win"? In German, this would be pronounced as "MAH-thəl-vin". Could Melvin have been derived phonetically from that in English?
Edit: As I did further research, I noticed that the name Alvin is listed on btn to derive from "a medieval form of any of the Old English names Ælfwine, Æðelwine or Ealdwine", all of which have the Old English element WINE in the latter part. So, this is an example of a name from Old English where the element WINE evolved into "vin". So, in the way that Alvin derived from these names, could Melvin have derived from Maethelwine?
Again, I'm not suggesting to change the current database entry for Melvin, only asking whether this is a possible etymology or not. Thank you for your help.
Thank you for clarifying about the book, and I know these websites are not searching for highest quality, but I thought that there may be a reliable source where the websites found their information that someone on these message boards may have known of, since it was a commonly cited origin for Melvin.
I looked at the book you cited, the Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges one, and it says that Melvin is of "uncertain origin but probably from Melville".
I'm definitely not disputing that Melvin comes from Melville, but when I asked the question, I wondered if Maethelwine was a second way Melvin had been derived too.
On the /v/ /w/ discrepancy, in Old English, yes, thank you, you're correct, the element WINE would appear with a /w/, such as when Edwin is derived from Eadwine. So yes, I see that it was not derived from Old English Maethelwine. However, what about a possible Germanic form Mathalwin, derived from the elements "mathal" and "win"? In German, this would be pronounced as "MAH-thəl-vin". Could Melvin have been derived phonetically from that in English?
Edit: As I did further research, I noticed that the name Alvin is listed on btn to derive from "a medieval form of any of the Old English names Ælfwine, Æðelwine or Ealdwine", all of which have the Old English element WINE in the latter part. So, this is an example of a name from Old English where the element WINE evolved into "vin". So, in the way that Alvin derived from these names, could Melvin have derived from Maethelwine?
Again, I'm not suggesting to change the current database entry for Melvin, only asking whether this is a possible etymology or not. Thank you for your help.
This message was edited 5/14/2019, 3:21 AM
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