Saturday, August 27, 2011

Jóhanna frá Örk, mærin frá Hleðringum


1) Lorraine
The original name of Lothar's kingdom was regnum quondam Lotharii or Lotharii regnum ("kingdom [once] Lothair's") and its inhabitants Lotharii (from Lotharius), Lotharienses (from Lothariensis), or Lotharingi (which gives the modern German Lothringen, which is the name of the province). The latter term, formed with the Germanic suffix -ing, indicating ancestral or familial relationships, gave rise to the Latin term Lotharingia in the tenth century.
The name Lothar is mentioned as Lóthar in Icelandic dictionaries, but should be HLÖÐAR(R). It has NOT the same origin as Icelandic Hlöðver and the German-Icelandic variant Lúðvík. I really have to emphasize this because I had discussions about this in the past with some Icelanders and they kept on insisting ad nauseam that 'Hlöðver' and 'Lothar' were the same or so phoneticly close that they can be equalized. They can NOT. If we are to built a correct Icelandic name for the region we must start from a correct Icelandic equivalent of the German personal name. Hlöðver and its cognate Lúðvík are derived from ChlodoWICH (Old High German Hludwíg, Hluotwíg (meaning 'famous warrior', Old Scandinavian rune inscriptions: *hlauðuuigar (see Íslensk orðsifjabók), while the original form of 'Lothar', on the other hand, is 'chlodoCHAR', the ending of which means 'army', corresponding with the '-ar' (in this case the ending in Icelandic masculine personal names. So the Icelandic version should HLÖÐAR(R) (ending from -herji) not Hlöðver (from vígar). There's a very slight difference between these three forms, but this difference should be made. The name of the region is simply the plural form of the '-ing' derivation: Hleðringar (German: Lothringen) from Hlöðar(r) (Lothar)
So the Icelandic version of Joan of Arc's epiteth "Maid of Lorraine" translates as "Mærin frá Hleðringum".

2) Orleans:
The emperor Aurelian renaming the old city Aurelianum, which evolved into Orléans. The Icelandic version of the Latin personal name Aurelianus is 'Árelján' (Icelandic Árel- in Árelíus + -ján in Kristján (compare: -ianus/-ján, AurelIANUS/ ChristIANUS)). The name of the city becomes Áreljánsborg (New Orleans = Nýja-Áreljánsborg)
The Icelandiv version of Joan of Arc's epiteth of 'Maid of Orleans' becomes 'Mærin frá Áreljánsborg'

3) Guðbrynmey
The eccentric, strictly Icelandic construction Guðbrynmey is an epiteth built like a personal name. If someone in Icelandic wants to name his daughter exclusively after 'Joan of Arc', merely calling her 'Jóhanna' wouldn't suffice. This is where constructions like Guðbrynmey could come into play. The following constructions are possible:

1) Guðbrynmey with or without a second personal name (Guðmey in itself could also apply to the holy virigin, Saint Bernadette from Lourdes and probably many other female saints, while Brynmey, without the Guð- prefix as a reference marker of the christian faith could refer to "Pallas (means 'virgin') Athena", the armoured warrior godess in Greek mythology.)
2) The combinations Jóhanna Guðmey, Jóhanna Brynmey or Helga Brynmey are also possible in case people find "Guðbrynmey" too long.

Maríumálmur, magnablý, móðir geislalofts (Radium)

1) Maríumálmur: Mary's metal, what other chemical element could answer to this description more appropriately than Radium. The blue substance which she is often depicted with is the compound 'radium chloride' (Icelandic: saltsúr maríumálmur)
2) Magnablý: Radium-isotopes are mostly daughters of isotopes of Thorium, the first element in the actinide series, which was named after the Nordic god Thor. The name can easily be icelandicized as 'þórsblý'. We than can built further on this name and terminologically isolate the element radium in Icelandic. The son of Thor was called Magni, so Radium becomes Magnablý. The second part of the compound 'blý' (lead) is used here as a positioner of metals heavier than lead, most of which desintegrate through alpha-emission ultimately into 'lead'.: e.g. Heljarblý (Plutonium), Maríublý (Polonium), Kanablý (Americium), Ægisblý (Neptunium), Elfráðsblý (Noberlium), Lafransblý (Lawrensium), Mundilleifsblý (Mendelevium), Áablý (Uranium)
3) Móðir geislalofts, móðir blýþungs lofts (kenning-like description of radium, of which 'radon' is a daughter product. That's the reason why 'radon' was formed from the name 'radium'.

Revised hyperpuristic Icelandic list of astronomical terms.

I'm still working on this list to get the vocabulary even more genuine Icelandic, no loan-words, even personal names are Icelandicized, as it should be.

http://users.telenet.be/Hafronska/sterren.odt

Enjoy the extremity. Exploring the outer limit of linguistic purity is a great experience. If only most Icelanders realized that the purification of their language to the limit doesn't uglify it! On the contrary.

Friday, August 26, 2011

kafsi, piparkerti, Surtsblóð (Chili pepper)

kafsi: from the Latin name of the species Capsicum and the substance capsaicine.
hafnarakafsi: habanero chili
Þrenningareysk sporðdrekapipar Böðka T's: Trinidad Scorpian Butch T chili (the current world's hottest chili pepper)
piparkerti: the form of the hot peppers is mostly candle-like (think of 'grýlukerti'), unlike their heatless relatives, the bell-peppers, which were named after their bell-shape. The word 'kerti' applies to the 'hotness' of the fruit and the shape.
Surtsblóð, eldpipardropar: Tabasco sauce.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Mundmafranskirsuber (Montmorency cherry)

The Montmorency cherry, a well-known variety of the sour cherry was named after the commune of Montmorency in the northern suburbs of Paris. It was the fief of the distinguished Montmorency family (Mundmafrensingar, from Mundmafrans). The name Montmorency derives from "Mons Maurentiacus" (993), which literally means "Mount Maurentiacus". Maurentiacus,in its turn, means "estate of Maurentius", which, except for the initial consonant, sound identical to "Laurentius", which was icelandicized as Lafrans (Lafransmessa). For that reason I propose the form 'Mafrans' for Maurentius. The prefix Mont- in Romance toponyms can be icelandicized as Mund-, like e.g. Mundíafjöll, Mons Jovis, mountains of Jupiter, the Alps), so I propose the constructions: Mafrans for 'Maurentius',analoguous to Lafrans for Laurentius, Mundmafrans for the name of the commune Montmorency, Mundmafrensingar or Mundmafransætt for the Montmorency family and Mundmafranskirsuber for the Montmorency cherry.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Dominique (Dofnakur)

There is an Icelandic equivalent of the Latin name Dominicus, the Old Irish-Icelandic Dofnakur (see 'Keltar á Ísland, Hermann Pálsson). The name for the Domican Republic should be 'Dofneska lýðveldið' and the capital San Domingo 'Dofnaksborg'.