Dear archae0pteryx,
"Sybille" is a variant of the old Latin word "Sibylla", which
originally was not a name but the term for a prophetess. As it seems,
the Flemish liked the name as it was, so they did not create a special
version of it. There are only some minor spelling variants: Sibylla,
Sybilla, Sibilla, Sibylle, Sybille, Sibille. I have found examples for
all these spellings appearing as woman's names in Dutch and Flemish
sources before the 17th century.
Best regards,
Scriptor |
Request for Answer Clarification by
archae0pteryx-ga
on
27 Nov 2004 10:41 PST
So when Sybille arrives in Bruges, she doesn't have to change her name
as Guillaume did? I hope I am understanding that correctly: it can
remain exactly the same.
I imagine the pronunciation will change, though, with the l's being
sounded--am I correct?
Thank you,
Archae0pteryx
|
Clarification of Answer by
scriptor-ga
on
27 Nov 2004 11:10 PST
Yes, that is correct: Sybille would not have to change her name since
it is common in the Flemish-speaking regions. It would remain
unchanged.
As for the pronounciation, I can only base my assumptions on modern
Dutch. "Y" is always pronounced like the German "i" (while in German,
the Y can also sound like Ü or J), and the "S" sounds sharp, like the
German "ß". That makes the first two letters sound like the English
"see". The "ll" should sound like in the English word "cellar", and
the "e" at the end is not mute - it would sound approximately like
"-uh", at least in an Englishman's ears.
"see-bill-uh" is what "Sybille" would be pronounced like in modern
Dutch. I assume that in earlier centuries, it was similar (of course,
no one can tell that for sure, due to the deplorable lack of audio
documents from the Middle Ages...)
Best regards,
Scriptor
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
archae0pteryx-ga
on
27 Nov 2004 12:19 PST
Accent on the second syllable?
|
Clarification of Answer by
scriptor-ga
on
27 Nov 2004 18:41 PST
I'd say so, yes.
|
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