Spelling of the name Alina

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John Parsons

Spelling of the name Alina

Legg inn av John Parsons » 16 apr 2005 13:30:03

Confusion over the modern spelling of the name "Alina/Aliva" results from
the vagaries of medieval handwriting. In 13th century documents what we see
for this name would (in so far as it's possible to demonstrate using modern
type) appear "Aliiia" b/c scribes wrote the "i" and both vertical strokes of
the next letter identically in what are known to palaeographers as "minims."
They acquired this name because the word "minim" is the classic example of
the problem thus created: in medieval documents the word "minim," written
as a continuous series of these little strokes, appears "iiiiiiiiii" (w/o
the dots, of course).

Exactly how to decipher and render these minims when the letter "v/u" is
involved is a virtually insoluble problem unless some further source can be
brought to bear on the problem to prove the matter one way or the other.
The present practice in a diplomatic or textual edition by a
palaeographer/historian/textual critic is to use the letter "u," so the name
would appear "Aliua" in an edited text. This is considered the most
accurate way to indicate to readers that the minim crisis is at work as well
as reflecting as accurately as possible the form of the original manuscript.
It also has the great advantage of sparing the scholar the necessity of
coming down on one side or the other when it isn't possible to be certain.
Obviously for general genealogical use, however, it isn't exactly helpful.

There are arguments for and against rendering the name either "Alina" or
"Aliva." "Aliva" could suggest an Anglo-Saxon derivation, but some might
object that the descendant of a Norman family would not have received an
Anglo-Saxon name. We know today that that isn't necessarily true; in the
3rd quarter of the 12th century, the _Dialogus de Scaccario_ makes it clear
that Anglo-Saxon & Norman families had intermarried so much that it was no
longer possible to distinguish Englishmen from Normans; by the 13th century
the Anglo-Norman nobility were fully assimilated in England, and English
names were used in many families.

Regards

John P.





From: PDeloriol@aol.com
To: GEN-MEDIEVAL-L@rootsweb.com
Subject: re: Scholars and Gentlemen
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2005 06:32:51 EDT

Just a wee point -

I wasn't aware that there were right and wrong ways to spell Christian
names
and patronymics in the middle ages. I distinctly remember that spelling
only
became standardised in the latter part of the 19th Century, in England,
that
is.Surely waht matters is the biographies of the people inviolved and the
k
nown dates of these individuals, followed by scholarly work, advice and
research on the primary and secondary sources available to us to help us to
identify more on the individual, or even refute certain claims founded on
woolly or
mistaken previous research...at least that is what I believe a gentleman
ought to try to do...
apart from:
"Three unspeakable precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of
conscience
and the prudence never to practice either of them." (Samuel Langhorne
Clemens)
regards
Peter ( de loriol)


Chris Phillips

Re: Spelling of the name Alina

Legg inn av Chris Phillips » 16 apr 2005 13:30:04

John Parsons wrote:
Confusion over the modern spelling of the name "Alina/Aliva" results from
the vagaries of medieval handwriting. In 13th century documents what we
see
for this name would (in so far as it's possible to demonstrate using
modern
type) appear "Aliiia" b/c scribes wrote the "i" and both vertical strokes
of
the next letter identically in what are known to palaeographers as
"minims."

....
There are arguments for and against rendering the name either "Alina" or
"Aliva." "Aliva" could suggest an Anglo-Saxon derivation, but some might
object that the descendant of a Norman family would not have received an
Anglo-Saxon name. We know today that that isn't necessarily true; in the
3rd quarter of the 12th century, the _Dialogus de Scaccario_ makes it
clear
that Anglo-Saxon & Norman families had intermarried so much that it was no
longer possible to distinguish Englishmen from Normans; by the 13th
century
the Anglo-Norman nobility were fully assimilated in England, and English
names were used in many families.

Actually, this is one of the examples of this difficulty mentioned in
Appendix C of Complete Peerage, vol. 3, on medieval names:

"Owing to the fact that "u" and n" are usually quite indistinguishable in
early manuscript, divers froms of the same name have grown up, and the wife
of Hugh [Lord] Despenser is variously described in Peerages as Alina and
Oliva, these being probably not the same name, though confused by the
scribe." [p. 603]

[or perhaps just confused by post-medieval readers?]

Chris Phillips

Douglas Richardson royala

Re: Spelling of the name Alina

Legg inn av Douglas Richardson royala » 16 apr 2005 16:02:11

Dear Chris ~

Thank you for your good post. Very informative. I'm sure the
inability to distinguish the Latin letters "u" and "n" has caused other
problems as well.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah

Website: http://www.royalancestry.net

Chris Phillips wrote:
John Parsons wrote:
Confusion over the modern spelling of the name "Alina/Aliva"
results from
the vagaries of medieval handwriting. In 13th century documents
what we
see
for this name would (in so far as it's possible to demonstrate
using
modern
type) appear "Aliiia" b/c scribes wrote the "i" and both vertical
strokes
of
the next letter identically in what are known to palaeographers as
"minims."
...
There are arguments for and against rendering the name either
"Alina" or
"Aliva." "Aliva" could suggest an Anglo-Saxon derivation, but some
might
object that the descendant of a Norman family would not have
received an
Anglo-Saxon name. We know today that that isn't necessarily true;
in the
3rd quarter of the 12th century, the _Dialogus de Scaccario_ makes
it
clear
that Anglo-Saxon & Norman families had intermarried so much that it
was no
longer possible to distinguish Englishmen from Normans; by the 13th
century
the Anglo-Norman nobility were fully assimilated in England, and
English
names were used in many families.

Actually, this is one of the examples of this difficulty mentioned in
Appendix C of Complete Peerage, vol. 3, on medieval names:

"Owing to the fact that "u" and n" are usually quite
indistinguishable in
early manuscript, divers froms of the same name have grown up, and
the wife
of Hugh [Lord] Despenser is variously described in Peerages as Alina
and
Oliva, these being probably not the same name, though confused by the
scribe." [p. 603]

[or perhaps just confused by post-medieval readers?]

Chris Phillips

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