A bastard is a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate child. By the former civil and canon laws, and by the law of Scotland (as well as of some of the United States), a bastard became legitimate by the intermarriage of the parents at any future time. But by the former laws of England a child, to be legitimate, must at least be born after the lawful marriage; it did not require that the child should be begotten in wedlock, but it was indispensable that it should be born after marriage, no matter how short the time, the law presuming it to be the child of the husband. The only incapacity of a bastard in former law was that he cannot be heir or next of kin to any one save his own issue. In England the maintenance of a bastard in the first instance formerly devolved on the mother, while in Scotland it was a joint burden upon both parents. The mother was entitled to the custody of the child in preference to the father. By the 1980's the law had evolved and illegitimacy was irrelevant. Research Bastard
In grammar, a diminutive is a word having a special affix which conveys the idea of littleness, and all other ideas connected with this, as tenderness, affection, contempt, etc. The opposite of diminutive is augmentative. In Latin, diminutives almost always ended in lus, la, or lum; as Tulliola, meum corculum, little Tullia, my dear or little heart; homunculus, a manikin. The Italian is particularly rich in diminutives and augmentatives, such compound diminutives as fratellinucciettinetto (a diminutive of frate, brother) being sometimes employed. Among English diminutive affixes are kin, as in manikin, a little man: pipkin, a little pipe: ling, as in gosling, a little goose; darling, that is, dearling, or little dear; and et, as in pocket, from poke, a bag or pouch; tablet, a little table. Diminutives are also formed, in colloquial and familiar language, by adding y or ie to the names, as Charley, Mousie, etc. Research Diminutive
Kinship is human relations based on biological descent and marriage. Kinship is founded on social differences and cultural creations. In all societies, the links between blood relatives and relatives by marriage are assigned certain legal, political, and economic significance that does not depend on biology. At the basis of kinship is the primary mother-child bond to which diverse cultures have added different familial relations. Additional kin are recruited to this basic unit by the principle of descent, which connects one generation to the other in a systematic way and which determines certain rights and obligations across generations. Descent groups can be traced through both sexes (that is, ambilaterally) or through only the male or the female link (unilaterally). In unilaterally traced groups the descent is known as patrilineal if the connection is through the male line or matrilineal if it is through the female line.
Less frequent forms for tracing descent are the parallel system, in which males and females each trace their ancestry through their own sex; and the cognatic method, in which the relatives of both sexes are considered, with little formal distinction between them. The study of kinship has directed much attention to the terms people use to classify and identify their relatives. Kin are everywhere categorised into distinct groups with specific roles and behaviour. The way in which people classify their kin has many practical applications. Thus, the familial relationships peculiar to a society will largely determine the allocation of rights and their transmission from one generation to the next. The succession of office and titles and the inheritance of property are implicit in the kinship system. Property can pass across generations in several ways, as, for example, from the mother's brother to the sister's son (in matrilineal societies); from the father to the father's younger brother (in some patrilineal cultures); or from the father to his son (in many patrilineal societies).
In some societies, kinship terms may also indicate how the family is split over the inheritance of goods and property. The Iatmul of New Guinea, for instance, assign five different terms to designate the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth child. In any quarrels over patrimony, the first and third children are expected to join forces against the second and the fourth. The evolution of kinship and its terminology has interested anthropologists since the mid- 1800s, when the American anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan developed his theory of kinship. He held that kinship terminology used in non-literate societies reflected a low level of culture and that the terminology common in civilised societies indicated an advanced stage of development. This theory was abandoned when the discovery was made that the limited number of kinship systems in use are found among both technologically simple and advanced peoples.
Some non-evolutionary theories see kinship terms as a result of culture borrowings and modifications, as a means of understanding aspects of the history of a particular society, or even as a linguistic phenomenon. The most common anthropological view, however, is a functional one that relates kinship terms to contemporary behaviour. In this theory, the terms are considered tools for understanding the ties between-and values of- people in any given society. Kinship is important in anthropological study because it is universal. It connotes certain basic human attachments made by all people, and it reflects the way in which people give meaning and ascribe importance to human interactions. Research Kinship
In Scottish law, an ann or annat was the half-year's stipend of a living, after the death of the clergyman, payable to his family or next of kin. The right to the ann was not vested in the clergyman himself, but in his representatives; and, accordingly, it could neither be disposed of by him nor attached for his debts. Research Ann
Blood-money is the compensation by a homicide to the next of kin of the person slain, securing the offender and his relatives against subsequent retaliation; once common in Scandinavian and Teutonic countries, and still a custom among the Arabs. The term is also applied to money earned by laying or supporting a charge implying peril to the life of an accused person. Research Blood-Money
Every object has a class name which it shares with all the members of the class to which it belongs (e.g. elm, desk, road). Many objects and practically all persons have also individual names which have to be learned in each case separately. These are called 'proper names.' There is no object which may not have a proper name, but the most important are those of localities and persons. Personal names show a tendency to become complex. Surnames, or additional names, are combined with the primary name. Among the Romans three and even four names were employed - praenomen, nomen, cognomen and agnomen, and stood in that order. The Arabic system is even more complex. In modern Europe there are two elements in every name - the primary name or names, known as the baptismal, Christian or given name, and the family name or surname. Originally all English given names were expressive of the child's birth or appearance, or of the parents' position or religion, or were given later in life in accordance with the appearance,
character or history of the individual. Descriptive epithets, names of qualities, names of deities and names expressive of religious belief are numerous in our stock of names. Some are Celtic, chiefly from Irish, Scottish and Welsh sources. Even Latin derivatives have come to us through Celtic channels. Teutonic names are numerous, and reached England chiefly through the Saxons and the Normans. The introduction if Christianity made saints' names popular, and added greatly to the number of Greek and Latin derivatives. It was after the reformation that Scripture names became common. Puritanism encouraged this tendency, and added names of its own, such as Faith, Hope, Mercy, Charity and Prudence. The most popular names are those which have been made famous formerly by some great king or national hero, and with the advent of television and cinema, film stars and soap-opera characters as well as popular musicians. The names introduced at the Norman conquest, William, Robert and a little later John, have maintained their
ground ever since. George and Charles owe much to their royal associations, and Arthur a good deal to the Duke of Wellington. Mary and Elizabeth, with all their variations are Scriptural in origin. English surnames were at first person epithets which identified a man by reference, for example to his home, his father's name, his occupation, or some peculiarity in his appearance or character. In England they began to be hereditary in the 11th century, but even in 1900 there were regions, Wales for example, where the transmission of the surname was not universal. English surnames may be classified into four main groups. (1) Those of local origin. These are by far the most numerous as a class, although not individually of very frequent occurrence. They were usually characterised at first by the presence of 'de', 'atte' or 'a' before the name of the place - for example Atwell and Atfield. Districts, towns, counties, countries and estates all contribute to our list of surnames. E.g. Townsend, London, Kent, Ireland, Welsh, Scott. Continental
place-names, especially French, have supplied a large number also. e.g. Flemming, Gascoigne, St Clair. (2) Derivatives from given names. The word ' son' or its equivalent is frequently combined with the name of the parent to form a compound surname. Fitz is a form of 'fils'; 'p' or 'b' in Welsh names derive from 'ap' (mac in gaellic) meaning 'son'; the Irish prefix 'O' has a similar use; a final 's' is often contracted for 'son'. Hence such names as Fiyzgerald, Bevan, Price, Macgregor, O'Flaherty, Williams, Jones. Some given
names are now best known as surnames, e.g. Arnold and Oswald, or have practically disappeared except as surnames, e.g. Foulkes from Fulk. Surnames are formed not only from Robert, but from Rob, Rob, Robin, Dob, Dobbin, Hob, Hobbin; not only from Richard, but from Rick, Dick, Dicon, Hitchin, Hitchcock (hence Robson, Hobson and Dixon). Very many surnames are formed from diminutives that are now very little in use or obsolete. Watkins, Willcock, Heweston, Colinson come from Watt (Walter), Will, Hugh and Nicol, with the addition of the diminutives 'kin', 'cock', 'et' and 'in'. among the patronymics may be included those which are derived from the father's occupation and not from his given name, e.g. Smithson, Clarkson. (3) Those expressive of a man's office or occupation or class. Many of these are easily recognisable, e.g. Archer, Butler, Chamberlain, Chaplin, Cook, Fisher, Fowler, Marshall, Porter, Shepherd, Smith, Steward. Others are less obvious, and may preserve the names of occupations no longer in existence, e.g. Barker, Baxter, Fuller, Scrivener, Spicer, Walker (Fuller). (4) Those descriptive of physical peculiarities or peculiarities of dress or disposition. These include nicknames, and may simply be adjectives, or compounds of nouns and adjectives (Black, White, Gray, Strong, Wise, Young, Blacklock, Lightfoot, Truman). Animal names may belong to this class (Bird, Bull, Hawk). Some names of office may be simply nicknames (King). Place
names often derive from features such as trees, forests, animals, hills, cliffs, lakes, houses, towns, bridges, churches, fords and so forth (Holywell, Newtown, Bridgend). Mere class names, such as river, church, hill, may serve the purpose of proper names in particular localities and may finally, especially for those who speak another language or dialect than that of the locality, acquire all the significance of individual names. There are many names of Celtic origin which have had this history in England; many river names, for example simply mean river (from afon) or water (from dwr or uisge from wysg): Avon, Aune, Dour, Dore, Esk, Usk, Ex, Ouse are cases in point. In some countries the names of tribes and individuals, particularly of immigrants, contribute a fresh element to the place-names (Charleston, Sussex). Events such as battles, give rise to a small number of
names. When different races in succession people a country, each in turn leaves behind it a deposit of names.
Names descriptive of natural features are very largely Celtic (e.g. compounds of bryn or bran, 'a hill' and of ewm or combe 'a valley'). But other Celtic words are also of frequent occurrence, especially in Ireland, Wales and Scotland (e.g. dun 'a fort'; kil and llan 'a church'). The Roman contributions in such words as Chester are well known. The Norse and Danish settlers have left clear evidence of their settlements on the coast. The Saxon influence is more generally diffused, although Wales, Ireland and parts of Scotland have been less affected by it. The Norman conquest has not greatly influenced the place-names.
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Bastard
