ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3375 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3375 ************************************ 24 Aug 2009 From: Melissa Barton Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel! First, we apologize for the time it has taken to write this letter. You asked about finding and documenting a Mongol name meaning 'Gray Bear' for a man living between 1250 and 1400. Here is what we found. The term Mongol can describe a variety of political entities in the time period you mentioned, including the "Mongol Empire" of Chinggis Qan and his successors, the Golden Horde in Russia (which persisted after the fall of the Empire), the Ilkhanate in Persia (which was more-or-less subject to the Qa'an or Emperor in China), and Mongolia as a semi-independent state that interacted with the Ming Dynasty in China. We will discuss here a Mongolian-language name which may suit you. If you are interested in a Turkic or Chinese name meaning 'Gray Bear' that might be borne by a Turkicized (for example, Golden Horde) or Sinicized Mongol, please let us know. During your time period, one of the primary languages of the Mongol Empire was Middle Mongolian. Middle Mongolian was an Altaic language related to Old Turkic, and it was spoken by the original Mongol tribe and related tribes. Its use spread with the military and cultural influence of the Mongols. As Middle Mongolian was recording using a variety of scripts, including phonetic Chinese, Arabic, and Uighur, it poses some challenges to reconstructing a vocabulary and consistent spelling. [1] We were able to find a mid-14th century word 'bear' in the Ilkhanate. and a variant spelling 'bear, old man' were also recorded in Chinese and Uighur scripts in other parts of the Mongol Empire (here the /o"/ represents a sound similar to the German o-umlaut, the vowel you get by pronouncing the /e/ in with your lips positioned to pronounce as in ). [2, 3] Because bears were a totem animal for some Mongol groups, their "real" name was considered too sacred to speak and they were referred to by another name--in this case a name related to (also or ) 'old man' or 'elder'. [4] Bears are still a totem animal in Mongol shamanism today, as are tigers, wolves, and several other animals. Although we were not able to find an example of or being used as a personal name in your period, the Turco-Mongolian animal names 'tiger', 'wolf', and (variously spelled or ) 'wolf' were commonly used as masculine personal names throughout the Empire. [5, 6] 'old man' was occasionally used in personal names in the Mongol Empire, although 'old man' was more common as a name element (here /u"/ represents a sound similar to the German u-umlaut, the vowel you get by pronouncing the sound of the /i/ in with your lips positioned as if you were saying as in ). [7] or 'gray, brown' was a common Middle Mongolian name element during your period. [8] appears to be a slightly older pronunciation. Either spelling is fine through the 14th century; if you choose an early 15th century persona, Chinese sources suggest that may be a more appropriate spelling. [9] One of the following names would be plausible for an ethnic Mongol man in your period ( may be substituted for , and/or for ): 'Gray Bear' 'Bear the Gray' 'Bear the Old Man' 'The Bear the Gray' The suffix <-dei/-tei> (also spelled <-dai/-tai>) to 'bear' was a common way of modifying nouns to make personal names. [10] I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Bronwyn ferch Gwyn ap Rhys, Talan Gwynek, and Ursula Georges. Leonor Ruiz de Liso/n 24 August 2009 ----------------------------------------------------- References [1] Kapaj, Luigi (Gu"lu"gjab Tangghudai), "Researching Mongol Names in the SCA" (2004). Online, self-published. [2] Golden, Peter B. (ed.), _The King's Dictionary: The Rasu^lid Hexaglot: Fourteenth Century Vocabularies in Arabic, Persian, Turkic, Greek, Armenian and Mongol_ (Leiden: Brill, 2000), s.v. [3] Rybatzki, Volker, _Die Personennamen und Titel der Mittelmongolischen Dokumente: Eine lexikalische Untersuchung_ (University of Helsinki, 2006). Doctoral dissertation, s.v. [4] Ibid. s.v. [5] De Rachewiltz, Igor (ed. and trans.), _The Secret History of the Mongols_ (Leiden: Brill, 2004), 2 vols., pp. 1, 10, 224. [6] Rashi~d Al-Di~n; Boyle J.A. (Trans.), _The Successors of Genghis Khan_ (New York: Columbia University Press, 1971). pp. 59, 123, 312. [7] Ibid. p. 123. [8] Cleaves, F.W., "The Mongolian Names and Terms in the History of the Nation of the Archers by Grigor of Akanc'" in _Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies_ vol. 12 (1949), p. 400-443. s.n. [9] Serruys, Henry. 1959. "Mongols ennobled during the early Ming," in _Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies_, vol. 22, p. 209-260. [10] De Rachewiltz, op. cit. p. 865.