On Lithuanian laigonas ‘brother of the bride’, Latvian līgava ‘bride’ Cover Image

Zu litauisch laigonas ‘Bruder der Braut’, lettisch līgava ‘Braut’
On Lithuanian laigonas ‘brother of the bride’, Latvian līgava ‘bride’

Author(s): Bernd Gliwa, Daiva Šeškauskaitė
Subject(s): Semiotics / Semiology, Customs / Folklore, Sociolinguistics, Baltic Languages
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: etymology; Lithuanian; Latvian; kinship; custom;

Summary/Abstract: Both old fashioned words have been subject of several different etymological readings. The present paper focuses on semasiology and the context of custom and ritual background. In Latvian and Lithuanian folklore the bride is compared with the Sun. Lithuanian tekėti means ‘course (sun), flow (river)’ and ‘marry (about a woman)’. Consequently, the marriage equals the solsticium. Latvian līgava ‘bride’, līgot ‘stagger, sway; course (sun); celebrate St. Johannis (summer solsticium)’, Lith. lingti ‘swing’ are reflexes of the zero grade of IE *leig- ‘to jump’ with generalized n- infix. For Lith. Laigonas an initial meaning as ‘bridesman’ is suggested, the one who leads the bride.

  • Issue Year: 20/2015
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 101-109
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: German