21.1038, Qs: Etymology and Cultural Connotations of the Word 'Aunt'

Wed Mar 3 17:26:48 UTC 2010

LINGUIST List: Vol-21-1038. Wed Mar 03 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.1038, Qs: Etymology and Cultural Connotations of the Word 'Aunt'

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1)
Date: 02-Mar-2010
From: Rose Martelli < rosemartelli at gmail.com >
Subject: Etymology and Cultural Connotations of the Word 'Aunt'

-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:23:28
From: Rose Martelli [rosemartelli at gmail.com]
Subject: Etymology and Cultural Connotations of the Word 'Aunt'

E-mail this message to a friend:
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I am working as a researcher and ghostwriter on an upcoming book 
from HarperStudio that will be a sort of parenting guide for the non-
parent - aunts, godmothers, moms' best friends, etc. who wish to take a 
meaningful role in a child's upbringing. While most of the book will 
contain how-to info, we will be discussing aunt-hood in its sociocultural 
context as well.

Towards that end, I am looking for a source who might speak to the
following questions about the etymology of 'aunt.' If this is you, please
drop me a line.

We will be giving proper credit and acknowledgments in the book to 
whomever we use as sources, the particulars of which would be 
solidified during the editing/layout phase.

The questions are below:

- Some languages don't have a word for aunt. Would you say this is
necessarily an example of aunts being devalued in those cultures? 
What are the usual thoughts, in the realm of linguistics, about what the 
absence of a word or term signifies culturally?

- In the English language - particularly in the American and especially 
the British cultures - there is often a negative connotation associated 
with the word 'aunt,' even when it's used to describe something other 
than a parent's sibling. (For example, the British sneeringly referring to 
the BBC as 'Auntie Beeb' because of its didacticism and fuddy-
duddyness.) Are there examples in other languages and/or cultures of 
the word 'aunt' either being distinctly negative or positive in 
connotation?

- In my research, I have read that most European languages use words 
for 'aunt' derived from the Greek 'tethis' or the Latin 'amita' or 'tata' and 
that the latter two, at least, mean 'rearer.' Yet an aunt is defined as 
being a nonparent; why the discrepancy?

- Is there any definitive answer to how one should pronounce 'aunt': as 
'ant' or 'ont'? Is there any sort of popular hypothesis out there as to 
why both pronunciations became equally acceptable - or, do you have 
a personal theory about it? Is the difference in pronunciation traced to 
certain parts of the world?

- Uncles have an adjective that stems from their title: 'avuncular,' which 
has positive connotations of kindness, geniality and indulgence. Is 
there a word out there that is the equivalent for 'aunt'? (I've read that 
'nanny' is considered to have stemmed from aunt, or at least that 
they share the same roots.)

Many thanks for your time and attention.

- Rose Martelli 

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics
                     Historical Linguistics
                     Sociolinguistics

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