Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: 'Mann' or 'Man'. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![15] Leland, Speed, Camden, Dufjdale, Selden, Blackstono, Holinshed, Gibbon, Hume, Sir Walter Scott, Sir J, Y. Simpson, Dr Robert Gordon Latham, F.R.S., Sir Henry Dryden, Bart.,Planche,ProfessorE. Forbes, Prof. Munch, Prof. Worsaae, Gumming, &c. Cumming, in a note on the name Maun in the Runic inscription referred to, says It is well to note that the name of the Isle of Man on this (Kirk Michael) cross is spelt Maun, showing that it was anciently pronounced broad, and thus bringing it into closer connection with the name Mona, the Roman appellation of the Island. It is very evident that the word Manu never had an exist- ence until after the conversion of Man into Mannia, which was done in defiance of all rule« regulating the development of root-forms ; and even with such an origin tlie word would never be accepted as either a Keltic or an English word, but only as an abbreviated form of a corrupt Kelto-Latin name, and should, therefore, in writing be marked as an abbreviated word. It is very certain that it is not an abbreviation of Mannin or Vannin, or Manannan, even when corruptly spelt with two n's in the first syllable, which, as I have shown, the monks had no authority nor precedent for doing. In writing, abbreviated forms are admissible sometimes when space is limited, and they are then marked as such, but to use an abbreviated word as a complete one, or as a variety of a perfect name is without precedent and contrary to all rules of orthography. Maen, Mon, Maun, and Man are varieties of a pure root form, and are perfect words and names in themselves, but Mann is an abbreviation of a mediasval word having a bastard Keltic head and a monkish-Latin tail. I have scheduled notes from many late autho- rities as to the correct spelling of Man, but I will now content myself with what I have already said, and move—That Rule 1 of our Society be so far altered that the word Mann be omitted, and the name of the Island Man be sub- stituted for it. Mr A.. W. MOOKE: I must congratulate the learned doctor on the very thorough manner in which he has grappled with this, to me, terrible subject. Icannotfollow him into all the references he has given, because I have not myself sufficiently looked up the subject. I propose to treat it in a more practical, and possibly more cheerful manner. It seems to me that in Man we have got down to the primordial atom of the name. If the process described by Dr Haviland of increasing the name was one which took place, and no doubt it did in the way he said, then it is quite the reverse process of ordinary nomenclature. The ordinary method is to start with a very long name and then chop it down. Of course in these matters we have a great deal to contend with in carelessness of writers. You find Isle of Man spelt in several very remarkable ways. The name is spelt both with one n and two n's, and some remarkable variations are met with. The earliest form, Elian Mannanan.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22280431_0010.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
