Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:08:43.954Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rethinking Romano-British *Corinium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2013

Richard Coates
Richard Coates*
Affiliation:
Richard Coates, FSA, Bristol Centre for Linguistics, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

It is suggested that the name generally accepted as the Romano-British name of Cirencester, *Corinium, the traditional spelling deriving from a Latin rendering of that in Ptolemy's Geography, is mistaken, and that for philologically sound reasons the authentic name is more likely to have been Cironium, as recorded in the Ravenna Cosmography.

Résumé

Il est suggéré que le nom généralement accepté comme étant le nom romano-britannique de Cirencester, *Corinium, orthographe traditionnelle dérivée d'une version latine de la Géographie de Ptolémée, est une erreur, et que, pour de bonnes raisons philologiques, le nom authentique serait plutôt Cironium, comme l'indique la Cosmographie de Ravenne.

Zusammenfassung

Es wird darauf hingewiesen, dass der im Allgemeinen für Cirencester akzeptierte römisch-britische Name, *Corinium, dessen traditionelle Schreibung von der lateinischen Form in der Handbuch der Geographie des Ptolemaios abgeleitet ist, falsch ist, und dass der authentische Name, philologisch begründet, wahrscheinlich viel eher Cironium lautete, wie dies auch beim Geographen von Ravenna festgelegt ist.

Type
Papers
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 93 , September 2013 , pp. 81 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Breeze, A 2002. ‘Does Corieltavi mean “army of many rivers”?’, Antiq J, 82, 307–309CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breeze, A 2010. ‘Gildas and the schools of Cirencester’, Antiq J, 90, 131–138CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camden, W 1590. Britannia, London: Eliots Court PressGoogle Scholar
Campbell, A 1959. Old English Grammar, Oxford: Clarendon PressGoogle Scholar
Coates, R 1998. ‘A new explanation of the name of London’, Trans Philol Soc, 96 (2), 203–229CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coates, R 2000. ‘Spinis – a thorny problem’, in Celtic Voices, English Places (eds R Coates and A Breeze), 40–43, Stamford: Shaun TyasGoogle Scholar
Coates, R 2012. ‘The “Corieltau(v)i”’, Studia Celtica, 46, 188–194Google Scholar
Coates, R forthcoming. ‘The name of the Hwicce: a discussion’, Anglo-Saxon EnglGoogle Scholar
Diller, A 1940. ‘The oldest manuscripts of Ptolemaic maps’, Trans Proc American Philol Assoc, 71, 62–67Google Scholar
Ekwall, E 1924. ‘The Celtic element’, in The Survey of English Place-Names. Part I (eds A Mawer and F M Stenton), 15–35, Cambridge University PressGoogle Scholar
Ekwall, E 1928. English River-names, Oxford: Clarendon PressGoogle Scholar
Ekwall, E 1937. ‘24. Cirencester Gl[oucestershire]’, in Etymological Notes on English Place-names (ed E Ekwall), 37–38, Lund: C W K GleerupGoogle Scholar
Ekwall, E 1960. Concise Dictionary of English Place-names, 4th edn, Oxford: Clarendon PressGoogle Scholar
Engels, J 2011. Review of Klaudios Ptolemaios: Handbuch der Geographie [etc.], Aestimatio, 8, 101–109Google Scholar
Esmonde Cleary, A, Warner, R, Talbert, R, Elliott, TGillies, S nd. ‘Places: 79549 (Korinion/Cironium)’, 〈http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/79549〉 (accessed 9 March 2013)Google Scholar
Evans, G 1974. Land of My Fathers: 2,000 years of Welsh history, Swansea: John PenryGoogle Scholar
Gelling, M 1997. Signposts to the Past, 3rd edn, Chichester: PhillimoreGoogle Scholar
George, K 1993. ‘Cornish’, in The Celtic Languages (ed M J Ball), 410–468, London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar
Hassall, M W CTomlin, R S O 1993. ‘Thorpe in the Glebe: lead sealing’, Britannia, 14, 318Google Scholar
Hogg, R M 1992. A Grammar of Old English. Vol I: Phonology, Oxford: BlackwellGoogle Scholar
Jackson, K H 1938. ‘Nennius and the twenty-eight cities of Britain’, Antiquity, 12, 44–55CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, K H 1953. Language and History in Early Britain, Edinburgh University PressGoogle Scholar
Jackson, K H 1970. ‘Romano-British names in the Antonine itinerary’, Britannia, 1, 68–82Google Scholar
Lhuyd, E 1707. Archaeologia Britannica, OxfordGoogle Scholar
McClure, E 1910. British Place-names in their Historical Setting, London: Society for Promoting Christian KnowledgeGoogle Scholar
Mittenhuber, F 2010. ‘The tradition of texts and maps in Ptolemy's Geography’, in Ptolemy in Perspective (ed A Jones), 95–119, Archimedes 23, Dordrecht: SpringerCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, R 2001. A Study of Montgomeryshire Place-names, Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg GwalchGoogle Scholar
Morris, J 1980. British History and the Welsh Annals, Arthurian Period Sources 8, Chichester: PhillimoreGoogle Scholar
O'Rahilly, T F 1946a. Early Irish History and Mythology, Dublin: Institute for Advanced StudiesGoogle Scholar
O'Rahilly, T F 1946b. ‘On the origin of the names Érainn and Ériu’, Ériu, 14, 7–28Google Scholar
Padel, O J 1975. The Cornish Writings of the Boson Family. Nicholas, Thomas and John Boson, of Newlyn, c 1660 to 1730, Redruth: Institute of Cornish StudiesGoogle Scholar
Parsons, D N 2000. ‘Classifying Ptolemy's English place names’, in Ptolemy: towards a linguistic atlas of the earliest Celtic place names of Europe (eds D N Parsons and P Sims-Williams), 169–178, Aberystwyth: Cambrian Medieval Celtic StudiesGoogle Scholar
Richmond, I ACrawford, O G S 1949. ‘The British section of the Ravenna Cosmography’, Archaeologia, 93, 1–50CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rivet, A L FJackson, K H 1970. ‘The British section of the Antonine Itinerary’, Britannia, 1, 34–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rivet, A L FSmith, C 1979. The Place-names of Roman Britain, London: BatsfordGoogle Scholar
Schnetz, J 1942. Itineraria romana. Vol II: Ravennatis anonymi cosmographia et Guidonis geographica, Stuttgart: B G TeubnerGoogle Scholar
Schrijver, P 1995. Studies in British Celtic Historical Phonology, Amsterdam and Atlanta, Ga: RodopiCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sims-Williams, P 2003. The Celtic Inscriptions of Britain: phonology and chronology c 400–1200, Philological Society 37, Oxford: BlackwellGoogle Scholar
Sims-Williams, P 2006. Ancient Celtic Place-names in Europe and Asia Minor, Philological Society 39, Oxford: BlackwellGoogle Scholar
Sims-Williams, P 2007. Studies on Celtic Languages Before the Year 1000, Aberystwyth: Cambrian Medieval Celtic StudiesGoogle Scholar
Smith, A H 1964–5. The Place-names of Gloucestershire. Parts 1–4, Survey of English Place-Names 38–41, Cambridge University PressGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, W H 1904. Asser's Life of King Alfred, Oxford: Clarendon PressGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, W H 1920. ‘Note on the derivation of the name Cirencester’, Archaeologia, 69, 200–202Google Scholar
Talbert, R J A 2000. The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, Princeton University PressGoogle Scholar
Thomas, R J 1938. Enwau afonydd a nentydd Cymru, Cardiff: University of Wales PressGoogle Scholar
Thomas, R J (ed) 1950–2002. Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, Cardiff: University of Wales PressGoogle Scholar
Tomlin, R S O 1983. ‘Non Coritani sed Corieltauvi’, Antiq J, 63, 353–355CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wacher, J 1995. The Towns of Roman Britain, 2nd edn, London: RoutledgeGoogle Scholar
Wakelin, M 1986. The Southwest of England, Varieties of English around the World T5, Amsterdam: John BenjaminsCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, V 2004. Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names, Cambridge University PressGoogle Scholar