It's a Small Word After All

Cultures are held together by their language. It is their language that binds people together and identifies their presence to others. For the genealogist, trying to understand a language that differs from our own is sometimes a complex task. This is especially true for those of Welsh descent who face a language (Welsh) totally different then the one spoken to the ear of the researcher. Words change, and their meanings change, and their common usage changes, and...on and on it goes. The following is such an example of words that have become confused for the genealogist.

Let's begin with the descriptor(adjective) "small". This would seem a simple thing, naming a "small island"...a "small tree"... a "small man". In the Welsh, the word "small" is "bach".(1) It was often used in a Welsh name to distinguish the smaller of two individuals that happened to share the same name, for example " Ievan ap Rhys"[ who would be bigger ] and "Ievan ap Rhys fychan"[who was the smaller by size]. It was written in the Welsh this way because the sound "b" was mutated [changed] to an "f" and word "bach" became "fach".

The Welsh also had different words for "younger" = "ieuaf" or "ifanc", and "young" = "ieuanc" and to make matters worse a word for "the younger" = "leiaf"! [The Normans also threw in their word for "young"= "jeune".

Now these adjectives appear very similar to the proper names "Ieuan", "Ievan", "Yevan", and "Ioan". Now just imagine if your name was "Ieuan fychan ap Yevan ieuaf". Were you the smaller, younger, or junior, and in which order?

It has become common for the genealogist to assume that the name "fychan" means "junior". [the youngest son of ] In reality, this may not be case. Likewise, several surnames have developed from the use of these adjectives among those writing down the records. "Fychan" has become the origin for the surnames "Vaughan" and "Jenkin". Wow, it's a small word after all.

Spellin' Llywelyn

The spelling of words often change over time. This is especially true when two distinct languages collide over the pages of history. Such is the case with the name "Llywelyn"... "LLewellin"... "Lewelyn"...or however you spell it. A good Welsh name it is. It appears to be derived from the Welsh word "llen" meaning "lion". [ A word often found in pub names!] Among the Welsh, it was taken as a given name, and in the earliest English records spelled it"Leulin". [ Patent Rolls, 1216-1225 AD.] The following is a table showing the spelling of Llywelyn as used over time. The sources are listed in general terms, but a detailed reference is available if requested. The source of the spelling is listed first, followed by the date of publication, followed by the spelling as recorded in the source. Various spellings may have occurred in the same source. Brackets are used to identify center of word. Here goes:

Patent Rolls - 1216-1225 AD - L-E-(U) - L-I-N
LL-E-(WE) -L-I-N

Patent Rolls - 1301 AD - L-E-(WE)-L-Y-N
L-E-(WE)-L-I-N
LL-E-(WE)-LL-I-N
LL-E-(WE)-LL-Y-N

Dwnn - 1586 - 1613 AD - LL-E-(W{n}) n written as superscript
1846 edition LL- E-(WE)-L-Y-N

Nicholas - 1872 AD - LL-E-(WE)-LL-Y-N
LL-E-(WE)-L-Y-N

Burke - 1884 edition - LL-E-(WE)-LL-Y-N

Wood - 1903 LL-E-(WE)-LL-I-N

Lloyd - 1911 LL-Y-(WE)-L-Y-N

College of Arms - 1988 LL-E-(WE)-L-Y-N

Maund - 1991 LL-Y-(WE)-L-Y-N

Ashely - 1998 LL-Y-(WE)-L-Y-N

Carpenter - 2003 LL-Y-(WE)-L-Y-N

Mortimer - 2003 LL-Y-(WE)-L-Y-N

From Welsh to English, so go the names.

Research done by The Jones Genalogist, 1980-2005. Any additions please add.

More Words of Life

In ancient Wales, at fourteen the male was to become essentially a ward of the state (gwlad). [See "At His Father's Platter", April 28, 2011.]

From the age of twelve years, the female was able to be given "to a husband". [See "Daughters", May 1, 2011.]

The following table gives more words of life, beginning with "boy" to "man", and "girl" to "women".

In the Welsh, "B" words again stay with the males, but "M" words shift to the women. The English of course follows the Anglo-Saxon. No real pattern continues for the Greek, Latin, and French. Again, the Welsh shows its distinct language for the sounds it makes to give the words of life.

The table is the same given last post, but the additional words are shown in "human development" order, giving a chronology of words which pronounce the stages of life.

Words of Life

Language is one part of a culture that defines its existance. Words express emotions, demands, descriptions, wants and desires, and become the words of life.

The following table list some foundational words of life. In our English language the word "life" come from the Anglo-Saxon "lif". In the Greek, it is "zoe" where the word zoology comes. In French it is "vie", and in Latin it is "vita". In the Welsh it is "bywyd".

The table shows other words of life from its beginnings. Birth, baby, infant, and child are shown for the English, Welsh, Latin, French, Greek, and Anglo-Saxon. Latin (Romans), French (Normans), and Anglo-Saxon all had something to do with the land of the Welsh. The Welsh words clearly show a difference in their structure, apparently not influenced by all these other cultures. They are words of the lips..."B" words, or bilabial. This shows the Celtic influence of its "P-Celtic" roots. [See post "Mind your P's and Q's", August 5, 2010, http://thejonessurname.blogspot.com ] I guess when they saw one of those heads start to pop out, the "gaw" factor took over!

Words of life, spoken differently though the tongues of men. The Welsh had their own way.

Welsh Language

Welsh historians begin their history dated 447 A.D. In the earliest recognized accounts, the "Annales Cambriae", it states:

"447 Days as dark as night". [see earlybritishkingodms.com/sources/annales.html]

Dark as night, an interesting beginning to a nation.

It was at this beginning that the tribal groups had made their claims to the land, and had begun their settlement patterns. In their hills and mountains, a branch of the Celtic tongue evolved seeming to concentrate on the bilabial consonants p, b, t, and hard palate sounds k. (the Welsh c) This "Brythonic" branch became the Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. Thus Welsh must have been fairly well developed before the emigration to Brittany, from Wales, where the Brythonic tongue took root. Welsh was spoken centuries before it became a written language. [Following the Celtic tradition of oral transmission of history, legends, and family stories.]

To add to the complexity of the language, the Celtic languages had developed a process called "mutation". This was a change of an initial consonant, depending on the character of the preceding word. Thus, depending on the preceding word, the initial consonants of the word that follows will sometimes change. Knowledge of these sound changes [mutations] became important for anyone wishing to understand the sounds and pronunciation of the Welsh. [This was particularly a problem for the English ear recording their sounds in future documents.]

The following is a list of the mutations which need to be recognized:

mutation of B = F and M

mutation of F = B and M

mutation of M= F

mutation of P = B, Mh, and Ph

mutation of T = D, Nh, and Th

L at the beginning of a word always signifies a mutation.

Wow! There you have it. For a discussion of the Welsh language see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_language

The Language

A glue that helps bind a people together is their language. It is their language that signals their presence to other cultures, and becomes an integral part of their society. Being forced into the hills and mountains of the western most part of the island, the Welsh language evolves 500 A.D. - 600 A.D. from its Celtic roots. The land being central to the family settlements, it became imperative to be able to claim and keep what little geographic area you could. What land have you settled? What land do you claim? Where do you live and how do I get there if I need to? Understanding this need, helps one understand the Welsh language and its use in naming and genealogy. Many Welsh place names are based on words that describe a landmark or a feature of the countryside. For example: a forest or woodland came to be called Coed, and the lower location would use the word isaf. This isaf-coed would tell the hearer the lower forest. A Bangor settlement in the lower forest that needed to be separated from a Bangor settlement in the upper forest, would become Bangor-Is-Coed. A settlement that took on a church at its center was called a Llan. This was often followed by the chief supporter of this church being frequently the tribal leader. Thus the settlement named Llangorwen would mean the settlement(enclosure) that was cleared by Gorwen, and the church there was being established and supported by Gorwen. On and on it goes, name that land! Welsh words are:

mor = sea [important since the land was surrounded on three sides by the sea.
glan = shore [a lot of shore line]
afon = river [a lot of rivers]
bryn = hill [from the oceans come the hills]
bron = slope of a hill
mynydd = mountain [lots of mountains]
bwlch = mountain pass
llyn = lake
bro = vale
nant = stream
ogot = cave
rhos = moor/marsh
ynys = island
carreg = stone
craig = rock
clun = meadow
clwyd = perch/gate
dros = over
glyn = valley
ty = house
plas = hall/mansion
maes = field
mawr = big
bach = small
caer = fort
dinas = hill fortress
pen = head/top/end
pont = bridge
twr = tower
uchaf = upper/highest
wrth = near/by
tref = town

In Welsh, my present house would be Plas-Gwyn. Where do you live?

Labor and Delivery

The two hundred years following Roman withdrawl from our island could be considered the "labor and delivery" of several new cultural groups. [Having delivered over 800 babies during my medical practice years, I have experienced first hand the blood, sweat, and tears that are involved in such a process.]

The Irish had the upper hand since they did not experience Roman occupation. Their Celtic roots expanded more quickly forming first the script called Ogham (Ogam). This writing used short horizontal or diagonal lines on stone slabs recording names, and imagine this...genealogies! This script has been found on the Isle of Man, Scotland, and Wales, showing the extent of early Irish influence around what I would call the "Celtic Mediterrian". [Irish Sea] By this time, Christianity introduced Latin, and some stones in Wales shown both Ogam and Latin. The Irish language formed through a branch of the Q-Celtic giving rise to the Galic tongues.

Irish expansion is also credited with the settlement of the south and south-west coast of what was to become Scotland. One of their major influences was the continuation of the Q-Celtic language in spite of Roman occupation south of Antonine Wall.

The Anglo-Saxon nation begins its history on our island starting 446. In their chronicles they use the term "Britons" until 465, where the name "Welsh" first appears. This was the Anglo-Saxon term used to describe those who spoke Latin and a Celtic tongue. The Welsh nation was still yet to give birth.

Wonderful references are found:

"The Celtic Realms", by Myles Dillion and Nora Chadwick, Castle Books, 1988.

"The Celtic World", Edited by Miranda Green, by Redwood Books, Ltd., 1996.

"A History of Ireland" by Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, Barnes & Noble, 1988.

"The Course of Irish History" Edited by Moody and Maritn, The Mercier Press, 1984.

"The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles", translated by Anne Savage, Crescent Books, 1995.