Re: St. Gerald of Mayo and the Old English form of Gerald
in reply to a message by clevelandkentevans
Gerald is plausibly OE although the bishop of Mayo is the only one I see recorded. Depending on dialect it could be Gerweald, Gerweld, and Henry Sweet's chapter on charters has an abbot Garweald but the Onomasticon doesn't give a date. OE typically shifts Germanic /a/ to /æ/, which breaks to /æa/ before l (written ea) or undergoes further umlaut to /e/.
Garwoldi looks Italian from Lombard, with w causing leveling of the a up and back.
Garwoldi looks Italian from Lombard, with w causing leveling of the a up and back.
This message was edited 7/11/2024, 6:45 PM