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[Facts] Orla
First of all, let me say that I trust this site's thorough research and thus also believe the name entries to be correct.
So I'm not challenging any of this.It's just that I looked up the name Orla in a name book - and the author agrees with this site in that the name is an Anglicized form of Órfhlaith and most likely derived from "ór" and "flaith".
However, they also discuss the possibility that it might be derived from "ór" and "snaith".
Now my question is this: would that even be - grammatically - possible? Does anyone happen to know?Any help will be greatly appreciated.

This message was edited 5/1/2013, 3:46 PM

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I don't think so. I can see it producing Orna rather than Orla - the "s" in snáith would not be sounded if aspirated (as in shnáith), and the "ith" would be silent as in Orla but the "n" wouldn't disappear.
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Thank you!You have confirmed my suspicions. I could see the "s" and the "-ith" disappear, but I honestly wondered how the "n" was supposed to magically turn into an "L".
(And you have helped me discover a new name. Thanks! :) )
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