Friday, August 07, 2015

Etymology of "marriage"

Marry/Marital/Marriage - etymology

They reckon that current word use over-rides etymological meanings,  and we shouldn't get too hung up when a word reverses its meaning. Fully sick, dude!

The topic here is neither ethics nor morals; it is about roots of words, how words are formed from their linguistic origins, etymologically, and how they are used or misused in society. A good example, a place to start, is the word 'nigger'; the corruption of Spanish negro, ultimately from Latin nigrum =black; and not from Niger, both the Country and river north of Nigeria (the country) from where and whence much of the slave trade originated. Conversely, the expression 'motherfucker' has lent itself to an acceptable standing even though it originates from White Masters forcibly raping the ply of their slave trade. The current use of terminology (what words mean) is better defined under semantics, and is outside the purpose of this discussion. For instance, 'fully sick' might indicate a desirable condition; yet if you were to inquire as to the tangibility of an autosexual union, it would be out of context for me to suggest you "go and fuck yourself".

So - up for scrutiny - the word 'marry' (see: marital)

Partly to do with matrimony (motherhood) from the French matremoine = marriage. In English, it stems from the Latin maritus  (married [that sounds like a dictionary quoting a dictionary as a reference]?), from Indo-European root mari (young woman), as in "married to the young woman". Some dictionaries give = to, or of, the husband  [this is insufficient, as husband is a relatively recent word of later origin, ie. house + bond; see Domesday Book]

And: Greek meirax (boy), Sanskrit marya (youth), but especially Latin maris (a man); {also, Altaic (Japanese/Korean/Mongolian) = miarra (to marry a man) and Asiatic = mjr, mr (man)}.

Two men cannot have nuptials; similarly, neither can two women be married. The root of nuptials means to become wife; likewise, marriage means to take or become a husband. Which poses the question, if two men have 'nuptials', just who is the 'wife'?; and of women and 'marriage', who is the husband? A female cat isn't a bitch. Technically, semantically, and linguistically, she's a Queen. But that's another subject altogether.

The confusion arises from the lax practice of carelessly interchanging terms with different meanings such as marriage, wedding, betrothal, nuptials, civil ceremony, etc.

Espousals, Pledges, Weddings and Betrothals mean virtually the same thing, and are by nature non-gender specific. They refer to oaths, the taking of vows, to plight one's troth, the making of promises, etc. In this way, a civil service or ceremony fits this category. A civil ceremony may confer legal status but falls short of designating exactly who is the husband and who is the wife; these are left undefined - hence, 'Civil Union'.

Much of the current furore emanates from legal issues, as in unsettled estates, wills, businesss agreements, etc. Clarification of status is often a moot point that in these changing times and circumstances needs to be constantly redefined and updated. Sometimes the gardener's cat may stand to inherit more than progeny that has a valid claim. Ethics takes a background stance here, as issues are so oft determined by "rights" and assumed proprietorship rather than common sense.

Enter the legal definition of what words mean.

Not how they are used, day to day; nor slang, rap, jive talk or lingo. Context is everything. When I was younger, we used to smoke "buddha sticks". Blasphemy aside, I'm not sure what the reference is made to - a supposed state of consciousness, bordering on the sublime? Modern language is continually evolving. What used to be a compliment may now be derogatory in modern terms. There was a time when I was carefree; yet I would hardly describe myself as gay. And apparently 'dope' is desirable, much like 'sick' is/was.

The problem with trends, is that they go in and out of fashion oh-so-quickly. There was a time when one would say it was 'in vogue', because speaking French was so inherently chic. Sometimes these aphorisms hold true to this day. But to say that a be-in was fab would undoubtedly send you spiralling down a time warp into extinction.

To summarise :—

Gender-specific:

Man
Wifman/wife/woman
Housebond/husband
Marriage
Nuptials
Motherfucker

Non-gender-specific:

Wedlock
Betrothal
Pledge
Vow
Promise
Nigger

NB. 'motherfucker' originates from the slave trade, what a child calls the Slave Owner who has had sex with his mother. Often this is where said child comes from. Strangely it has now morphed into a term of endearment.