carnaval

Forms

carnaval m (plural carnavals)^[1] Walloon quarnivalle (1268) and 16th-century carneval.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian carnevale (also carnevalo, 13th century), properly the Shrove Tuesday festivities.^[2][4][3] The Italian word is an alteration of Medieval Latin carnelevare, recorded in 965 in Latium and common in northern Italy in the 12th century.^[2][4] Bloch and Wartburg explain the change as a metathesis that took place in Tuscany, and the TLFi suggests that it may have been helped by Latin Natale (“Christmas”).^[3][2]

The Medieval Latin word is a compound of carne (“meat”) and levare.^[2][4][5] The second element may mean “to remove”, as in the competing type carne laxare in Italy and in Spanish carnestolendas, so that the word would mean “the taking away of meat”.^[2][3] Alternatively, it may be a playful alteration of Latin formulas such as jejunium levare (“to keep a fast”) or jejunium levare de carne (“to abstain from meat”).^[2][4] The first sense would then have been “entry into Lent”, then “the eve of Lent”, as with carême-prenant.^[2][4] Diez's explanation from carne and vale (“farewell”) was already rejected by Littré, and Wiktionary calls it a folk etymology.^[6][1]

The isolated record of 1268 may be due to Tuscan merchants dealing locally in the region, and the DHLF considers it very doubtful.^[2][7][3][4] The word seems to have spread outside Italy only shortly before the 16th century: the Spanish form carnaval is recorded in 1495.^[4] Bloch and Wartburg attribute the French borrowing to the sumptuous festivals of the Renaissance.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An isolated Walloon record of 1268, quarnivalle, is found in an ordinance of the duchy of Bouillon.^[2][5] The word is next found as carneval in 1549, in Marguerite de Navarre's Heptaméron, for the festival held at that time of year.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Since the period before Lent was marked by feasting, licence and amusements, as on Mardi gras, the stress fell on these festivities, and by metonymy the word came to mean the festival itself (1549).^[4] Some carnivals, such as those of Nice, Rio and Salvador, became famous.^[4]

From the grotesque figure carried through the streets during the festival, carnaval was used ironically, after carême-prenant, of a person dressed in a ridiculous way.^[4][6] The phrase faire carnaval, “to feast”, is now dated.^[8] In Quebec the Bonhomme Carnaval is a snowman figure who represents the Quebec winter carnival.^[4]

Timeline

• 1268 – An isolated Walloon form quarnivalle appears in an ordinance of the duchy of Bouillon.^[2][5]
• 1549 – Marguerite de Navarre writes carneval for the festival.^[2][4]
• 1578 – Bloch and Wartburg date the form carnaval to this year.^[3]
• 1595 – Villamont uses the form carnaval.^[8]
• 1845 – Carnavalesque is borrowed from Italian.^[4]
• 1863 – Littré records the sense “person dressed ridiculously”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The period of festivities between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, before Lent.^[9][2]
2. The festivities of this period, such as balls, parades and masquerades: le carnaval de Venise, le carnaval de Nice.^[9][2]
3. A grotesque effigy that personifies the carnival and is burned at its end.^[9][8]
4. (figurative, literary) A burlesque spectacle that recalls the carnival.^[8]
5. (dated) A person dressed in an outlandish way.^[6][4]

Related words

• carnavalesque
• carême-prenant
• chair
• Italian carnevale

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 391b
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert