cumnat

Forms

cumnat m (plural cumnați, feminine equivalent cumnată)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cognātus (“related by birth, blood relative”), from con- and nātus (“born”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The sense widened to “relative” and then narrowed in Vulgar Latin to “brother-in-law”, which all the Romance languages share.^[2][6] Graur thinks the change came from words such as compater and consocer, used of relatives by marriage.^[7]

The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian cumnat, Megleno-Romanian cumnat and Istro-Romanian cumnåt.^{[2][8][9][10]} Its Romance cognates include Dalmatian comnut, Italian cognato, Occitan cunhat, Catalan cunyat, Spanish cuñado and Portuguese cunhado.^[3][1] Albanian kunat is a loan from the same Latin word.^[11][3]

Pușcariu saw a problem in the kept ⟨mn⟩, since the cluster was reduced in mioară;^[7] Graur replies that the ⟨mn⟩ of those words was palatalised.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in a Wallachian charter of 1469.^[2][4] MDA2's first record is Varlaam's Cazania of 1643.^[5] The feminine cumnată is recorded from 1581, in a law code.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word names several in-law relations: the brother of one's husband or wife, the husband of one's sister, and the husband of the wife's sister.^[2][6] The Banat has separate words for some of these.^[6] At weddings, cumnat de mână is the second godfather who escorts the couple, and in Oltenia the cumnat carries the flask that invites the guests.^[5][6] Ciorănescu derives the Bulgarian and Ruthenian words for “brother-in-law” from Romanian.^[3]

Timeline

• 1469 – the first record, in a Wallachian charter.^[2][4]
• 1581 – the feminine cumnată, in a law code.^[2]
• 1632 – cumnăție “kinship between in-laws”.^[2]
• 1643 – cumnat in Varlaam's Cazania.^[5]
• c. 1660 – the verb încumnăți “to become in-laws”.^[2]
• 1691–1697 – cumnățesc “of an in-law” in Corbea's dictionary.^[2]
• 1815 – the diminutives cumnățel and cumnățică.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. brother-in-law: the brother of one spouse in relation to the other; the feminine cumnată is the sister-in-law.^[12][5][1]
2. (plural) People related in this way.^[12]
3. (regional) cumnat de mână: the second godfather who escorts the bride and groom.^[5]

Word family

• cumnată
• cumnăcioară
• cumnățel
• cumnățesc
• cumnățește
• cumnățică
• cumnăție
• încumnăți

Related words

• Aromanian cumnat
• Latin cognātus

Usage notes

With a possessive the word is often joined to it: cumnatu-meu “my brother-in-law”, cumnată-mea “my sister-in-law”.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. cumnat
3. ^ a b c d 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. cumnat
4. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cumnat
5. ^ 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, 571
6. ^ a b c d 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. cumnat
7. ^ a b c Graur, Alexandru (1963), Etimologii romînești, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. cumnat
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 328
9. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 85
10. ^ Byhan, Arthur (1899), Istrorumänisches Glossar, Sechster Jahresbericht des Instituts für rumänische Sprache zu Leipzig: 174–366, p. 257
11. ^ Demiraj, Bardhyl (ed.), Digitales philologisch-etymologisches Wörterbuch des Albanischen, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
12. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 259