Editing Alana
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|In December I noted that in period Latin inflections do not appear to have been used to change the gender of Welsh (and for that matter Gaelic) names. That is, such feminizations as Briana, Morgana, and Alana are, so far as we know, post-period inventions. The first of these has been declared 'SCA-compatible' on account of its great popularity. As I noted in December, the other two have enjoyed less popularity and are represented by significantly fewer registrations. I called for commentary on whether to continue to allow these and other similarly-formed names for which there is no evidence of period use, promising a decision in May. As things turned out, May was an uncommonly busy month, and the matter was delayed until this month. At any rate the question stimulated little controversy (or even discussion), so a decision is not difficult: the names Morgana and Alana, as well as any other similarly feminized masculine names for which there is no evidence of period use (and which have not already been declared 'SCA-compatible'), are not considered 'SCA-compatible'. In other words, the argument based on the Latin/Romance practice of using inflectional endings to change the gender of a name is not automatically valid; it must be supported either by evidence of period use of the specific name or by evidence that the practice was in general use in the linguistic culture of that name. (Talan Gwynek, Cover Letter to the June 1996 LoAR, p. 2) | |In December I noted that in period Latin inflections do not appear to have been used to change the gender of Welsh (and for that matter Gaelic) names. That is, such feminizations as Briana, Morgana, and Alana are, so far as we know, post-period inventions. The first of these has been declared 'SCA-compatible' on account of its great popularity. As I noted in December, the other two have enjoyed less popularity and are represented by significantly fewer registrations. I called for commentary on whether to continue to allow these and other similarly-formed names for which there is no evidence of period use, promising a decision in May. As things turned out, May was an uncommonly busy month, and the matter was delayed until this month. At any rate the question stimulated little controversy (or even discussion), so a decision is not difficult: the names Morgana and Alana, as well as any other similarly feminized masculine names for which there is no evidence of period use (and which have not already been declared 'SCA-compatible'), are not considered 'SCA-compatible'. In other words, the argument based on the Latin/Romance practice of using inflectional endings to change the gender of a name is not automatically valid; it must be supported either by evidence of period use of the specific name or by evidence that the practice was in general use in the linguistic culture of that name. (Talan Gwynek, Cover Letter to the June 1996 LoAR, p. 2) | ||
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