Thursday, May 24, 2012

Shakspeare's real name

POP1



The only examples in existence of anything written by Shakespeare are six signatures.  None of them are written as Shakespeare.

The earliest is on a deposition (1612) spelled "Willn Shaks(blotted )p"; one on a conveyance (1613) was spelled "W(blotted)illiam Shakspe"; one on a mortgage (1613) was spelled "Wm Shakspr".  The signatures on each of the three pages of the will (1616) are spelled respectively, "Willia(blotted)m Shakspere", "Willm Shakspere", and "William Shaksper".

POP2

Elizabethan spelling was diverse and phonetic.  If it fairly represented the sound of a word it was considered correct.  Some thirty spellings in the Stratford records of christenings, marriages and burials of the family all spelt the 'Shakespeare' name in such a way as to require the first syllable to be pronounced with a short "a" as in "hat", not a long "a" as in 'lake' or 'shake'.  In some eighty variations of the name used in England none hyphenated the two syllables into the name Shake-speare as the author's name originally appeared in the first published poems, in the sonnets and in a number of the quarto plays.  None of the names suggest the first syllable as being "shake" as in shaking an object; or "spear" as in the weapon to be thrown.

So what's the point?  The point is that in no written document was William Shaksper's name ever associated with the name Shakespeare as used by the author of the plays.

POP3

The family name of Shaksper was not derived from the idea of a spear shaken.  In fact it derives from the French names "Jacques" and "Pierre" being joined into the family name "Jacquespierre" which, over the centuries, became "Shaksper".  If you repeat the name "Jacquespierre" fast, using the French pronunciation, you'll notice it sounds like "Shaksper".

Many people believe that the the plays of Shakespeare were not written by William Shaksper of Stratford.


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