Dear Ron and Stephen
In fact such spelling variation has continued in registers even up
to recent periods.
My family used to have a middle name Stobo-Hind" and my father
continued to
keep this name. A member of the family trying to trace the origin of
the name discovered
that it could also be written "Stoboe" by some members of the family.
Obviously, the spelling of the word "go" and the
word "toe", mean that both can have the same pronunciation.
It is only when there a strong bureaucratic reasons for doing so that
names tend to get fixed, also in some cases the effect
of printing; but for that you have to be famous or infamous, which
I suppose Stobos were not.
Variant spelling possibilities are one reason for the variations in
names, but during the Renaissance
there was enormous variation in pronunciation due to vowel changes
and consonant loss.
These are still felt today in variant pronunciations of the name Van
Gogh (US "Van go"
English RP Van gof) for example. The loss of the Germanic
pronunciation of "gh" (as [X], or ch) in most dialects of English
gave us variants such as "Duff" Northern English, but "Dough"
pronounced "doe", Southern English.
This situation was very unstable at the Renaissance, and we see
rhymes in Shakespeare which prove this.
In the Winter's Tale( Act IV sc1 l.27-30) Shakespeare rhymes
<daughter> with <after>:
Enter TIME, the Chorus
...What of her ensues
I list not prophesy, but let Time's news
Be known when 'tis brought forth. A
sheperd's daughter,
And what to her adheres(belongs) which
follows after,
Is the argument of (plot of the play) of
Time. Of this allow
If ever you have spent time worse ere now.
But in Lucrece. he rhymes daughter with slaughter:
22) l.953 To show the beldame daughters of her
daughter
To make the child a man, the man
a child
To slay the tiger that doth live
by slaughter
In the case of -ng-, these letters, in old English correspond to the
pronunciation of two sounds (as it still does today in
some areas of the Midlands, where they pronounce the G in "singer".
The G has been lost in standard English.
Even in the Midlands, In the case of "sing" the G is often dropped,
because it is not followed by a vowel;
or it is pronounced with a slight supporting 'e" sound following.
Perhaps the "Pickeringe" spelling implies that Jane might have continued
pronouncing that final "G" and the "e" is almost phonetic, indicating
the presence of the weak vowel "supporting" the "G".
Just an idea, perhaps quite mistaken.
Regards
Anthony
Le 21 juin 07 =E0 09:12, Ron Fletcher a ecrit :
> Hi Stephen,
>
> There was no set standard of spelling in the 16th century. Many
> registrars
> wrote names as they heard them from the couples being married etc.
> As many
> citizens were illiterate at that time.
>
> I also read that her book has the initials I. P. on the cover,
> indicating
> that Jane spelled her name Iane. I's and J's were interchangeable
> back
> then.
>
> The thing that made me smile was the entry, "Jane Pickeringe owe this
> book..."
>
> A-ha...So she borrowed this book and owes it to the true owner!
> (A library book?) This will really confuse historians.
>
> Owe and Own have completely different meanings.
>
> Best Wishes
>
> Ron (UK)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stephen Kenyon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 11:21 PM
> To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
> Subject: [LUTE] Pickering or Pickeringe?
>
> Hello, which please is the appropriate spelling for our Jane?
> Many thanks...
>
> Stephen
>
>
>
>
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