Tripalium
Tripaliumortrepalium(derived from the Latin roots, "tri- / tres"and"pālus"– literally," three stakes ") is a Latin term believed to name a torture instrument consisting of" three stakes "(based on its literal meaning),[1][2]and commonly thought to be the source for several common modern words.
Historical background
[edit]The original usage oftripaliumis still unclear. Its meaning is mainly inferred from interpretations of "three stakes".[1]The earliest references from theancient Roman erause the term to describe a wooden structure designed to securely immobilize a large "fiery animal" (horse, oxen, cow) during examination or care. In addition to livestock animals, violent men and women who were thought to behave like a fiery bull had their arms and legs tied down to a tripallium. InCicero'sIn Verrem( "Against Verres" ), in 70 BCE, and in a later 582 CE text, theCouncil of Auxerre,[1]tripaliumis used in the context of forbidding clerics to assist torture sessions, and is described as an instrument involving three stakes used to punish only slaves. The subject would be tied to the tripalium andtortured(i.e., burnt).[citation needed]
Historical records concerning the torture in the ancient Roman empire give many famous cases where it was applied and discussions of its legality, but they rarely indicate the means of torture[3]and do not make references toimpalement.[4]
The transition fromtripaliumto the French technical wordtravailoccurred in the13th century.Travailis still used inFranceto describe a wooden structure used byfarriersfor horse care.[5]With the evolution of the French language,Tripaliumcould have potentially diverged into the following variants: "traveil"; "traval"; or "traveaul".[6]Furthermore, in theMiddle Ages,tripaliumdescribed either a structure consisting of a framework of wooden beams calledTrabicula,or an individual beam in the structure.[7]These trabiculae are the direct source of architecture unique to the city ofLyon,called theTraboules– transverse structures for accessing apartments.[citation needed]
Modern words derived fromtripalium
[edit]| Word | Language(s) |
|---|---|
| travail | Frenchand English.[8] |
| trabajo | Spanish[2][9] |
| travaglio | Italian |
| trabalho | Portuguese |
| traballo | Galician |
| treball | Catalan |
| trivalliu | Logudorese Sardinian |
| traballu | Campidanese Sardinian |
| travel | English |
With the exception of the English word and the Italian word, all of the words in the table above mean "work". A majority of scholars believe these words to be reflexes of Latin “tripallium.” However, this theory has been contested by a small minority, who argue that an irregularity in the development of the first syllable, which is consistent across all reflexes, points to a different etymological origin.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abcMark Liberman(July 10, 2007)."Annals of Exoticism".Language Log.
- ^ab"trabajar".DICCIONARIO DE LA LENGUA ESPAÑOLA - Vigésima segunda edición.REAL ACADEMIA ESPAÑOLA.
- ^Dowling, Melissa Barden (2006).Clemency and cruelty in the Roman world.University of Michigan Press. p. 225.ISBN978-0-472-11515-0.
Specific details about the types and duration of torture, however, are surprisingly scarce
- ^Robinson, OF (2007). "Penal practice and penal policy in ancient Rome": 173 (footnote 92).
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help),citing, among others, 17.3 and 27.19 of theAnecdota(Secret History) ofProcopius - ^abNicholson, G.G. (1927)."Français travailler, travail".Romania.53(209): 206–213.doi:10.3406/roma.1927.4295.
- ^Dictionnaire Frédéric Godefroy, Paris F.Vieweg 1881. Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue Française et de tous ses dialectes du IX au XVe siècle. Volume 8, page 23
- ^Dictionnaire Français-Latin, Félix Gaffiot Trabicula: petite poutre, poutrelle
- ^Winchester, Simon:The Best Travelers' Tales 2004Archived2005-04-05 at theWayback Machine
- ^J. Cary Davis (March 1977). ""Trabaculu > Trabajo" the Case for and against ".Hispania.60(1): 105–108.doi:10.2307/340402.JSTOR340402.