Thursday, May 15, 2008

Bertha - By Special Request

In Norse mythology, Bertha, is the goddess of spinning. Perchta is the goddess of spinning and weaving in Teutonic mythology. The Old High German name, Perchta, is listed alternately as: Berctha, Percht, Berchte, Berahta, Perahta etc. Norse is a language descended from the same Proto-Germanic language as Old High German.

Because of the similarities between the goddesses Bertha and Perchta and their shared ancestral language they are thought to be variations on the same lore and thus, are believed to share the same Old High German root, behrat, meaning 'light'.

Because the German and Norse language contain no dental fricatives (as a result of the High German consonant shift occuring in the 3rd - 5th centuries AD which preceded written records) the pronunciation of Bertha outside of English speaking languages is closer to Berta (Think Mathilda, Mathias etc.)

Bertha was probably introduced outside of Germanic territories by the Saxons and Vikings. Queen Bertha of Kent, who was canonized, was very influential in introducing Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. Famous Berthas have included: several saints, 2 queens of France and a Byzantine empress.

The name Bertha enjoyed enormous popularity in the U.S. and Britain in the late 1800s but began a steady decline starting around the 1930s. This was possibly due to the widespread use of the name "Big Bertha" used to refer to some forms of artillery used during the First World War. It had slipped off the top 1000 names completely by the 1990s. It is definitely a name in danger of extinction. It has not seen a revival even though a trend for other names from the era of its heyday have enjoyed renewed popularity.

5 comments:

Sarah said...

You do requests? I'd like to see what you have to say about Aurora. And are you sure you're not secretly a phonologist? You sound pretty proficient in the lingo to me. Plus what do you have against the name Maya?

Z said...

Do I have something against the name Maya? I did Audrey just because it has a really interesting etymology. I can do both Aurora and Maya.

Vivian said...

My mother-in-law's middle name is Berthine (I think that's the correct spelling). Is that related to Bertha?

Z said...

Yes. The French form of Bertha is Berthe and the diminutive of Berthe is Berthine. However, if she spells it Bertine that came about as a short form of Albertine. As the 'bert' in Albertine has the same origin as the 'bert' in Bertha the relationship is there but is not as direct.

Lesley said...

Thank you!
I didn't know Bertha had Germanic origins. My dad, who was German, chose wisely.

I can't wait to tell my mom.