câșlegi

Forms

câșlegi f pl (plural only)^[1]

Etymology

Most dictionaries trace it to a Latin phrase, inherited from Latin cāseum ligat (“(he) ties up the cheese”), that is, he gives up cheese.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Tiktin preferred the imperative cāseum ligā (“tie up the cheese!”), and Wiktionary gives cāseum ligās.^[7][2][1] The phrase is built on cāseus (“cheese”) and ligō (“to tie, bind”).^[1][8] Ciorănescu also thinks a Latin origin more probable, and compares Medieval Latin casleu (“November”) in the glosses of Silos.^[8]

The DA and Scriban see instead a compound formed in Romanian, from Romanian caș + lega, made on the model of cârneleagă, with “cheese” put in place of “meat” because the Eastern Church forbids dairy food in Lent.^[9][10] In such compounds the verb has the sense “to forbid”, the opposite of dezlega.^[9] DELR lists both explanations.^[2]

The word survives south of the Danube as Aromanian cãshleagã, which Papahagi glosses as the time, and above all the day, when one pledges to eat no more cheese until Easter.^[11][12][2] Pușcariu compared the Romance names of the carnival, such as Italian carnevale from carnelevare and carnasciale.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a document of about 1640, and DELR also dates the word to about 1640.^[7][2] The Moldavian chroniclers use it for the time of feasting before Lent: Nicolae Costin writes „Într-această iarnă, în câșlegile Crăciunului, s-au căsătorit Antioh-vodă” “this winter, in the Christmas câșlegi, Prince Antioh married”.^[9] MDA2 takes its first record from Miron Costin's chronicle.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Tiktin thought the word first named the last day of the cheese week, now called lăsatul de brânză.^[7] In use it names any of the periods between two fasts when meat and dairy may be eaten.^[3][4] Four are told apart: the Christmas or winter câșlegi, from Christmas to Great Lent, which are the carnival proper; the Easter câșlegi, eight weeks after Easter; the câșlegi of St Peter, from 29 June to 1 August; and the autumn câșlegi, from 15 August to 15 November.^[13][7][9] Without a qualifier it most often means the winter period, the time of weddings.^[9][14]

The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 gives câșlegi or cârnilegi with Latin bacchanalia, Hungarian farsang and German Fasching, and explains that the use of meat is “bound”, that is forbidden, when these days end.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1640 – the first record, in a document.^[7][2]
• 17th century – câșlegi in Miron Costin's chronicle.^[4][9]
• 1825 – câșlegi or cârnilegi “carnival” in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. The period between two Orthodox fasts when Christians may eat meat and dairy food.^[3][4][1]
2. Specifically, the time from Christmas to Lent, the carnival (= cârneleagă).^[4][9]

Related words

• caș
• lega
• cârneleagă
• Aromanian cãshleagã

Usage notes

The word is a plural noun, but Tiktin and CADE also record a singular câșlegiu, and Tiktin a Banat form with cășl-.^[7][13] The periods are named with the genitive: câșlegile Crăciunului, câșlegile Paștilor, câșlegile de toamnă.^[7][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. câșlegi
3. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 165
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 347
5. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 32
6. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
7. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. câșlegi
8. ^ a b Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. caș
9. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. câșlegi
10. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 298
11. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
12. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
13. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. cîșlegi
14. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2011), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din Maramureș, Baia Mare: Ethnologica, p. s.v. câșlegi
15. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 104