Vocabulary teaches so much!

A culture's views on marriage and parenting tell so much about their culture.  Today in class I learned 5 words for a man to use meaning that he is married.  There are 5 other words for a woman to use meaning that she is married.  The words are almost the same for the man and woman but the endings are different.  The words for the man to use are in the active voice, meaning it is an action which he performs.  The words for the woman are in the middle and the passive voice meaning it is something that she does to herself or something which is done to her.

The word from the lesson which I started today is the most ironic to me.  For the woman, it is "joodoyaade" which means "to go to sit".    For the man, the word is "joodinde" which means "to make to sit."  Obviously the word sit could be interpreted stay, but it is still ironic to me.  The idea that a woman here would sit is humorous.  They have so much work to do, especially as they get married and have children.  The idea that they would be sitting is funny to anyone who has seen how hard these women work. 

The second word my teacher taught me, which I had already learned, was "mareede" for the woman, which means "to be kept, guarded".  The word for the man that corresponds is "marde" which means "to keep, guard."  This word is actually my favorite I think to express marriage.  It offers that security that women desperately need to feel in the marriage relationship and one of the purposes for men in marriage to protect her and the home.  Literally as I would say it would mean, "I am guarded."  I love that word picture!

The third term could be looked at either positively or negatively, depending on your personal experience.  The word for the man is "tiggude" meaning "to put a veil on someone", and for the woman "tiggeede" meaning "to be veiled".  Often brides in western culture will wear veils, but then they are unveiled for the groom as they marry.  I believe that is symbolic of how she has been protected and preserved for her husband.  With the idea of being veiled as a term of marriage, I see a picture of her beauty and preciousness being preserved still for her husband only.  It is not a prison for her but a means of protection and guarding.  A woman in the Bible who was not veiled was seen as a loose woman.  In Song of Songs, Solomon describes the bride's beauty which lay behind her veil, which was for he alone to know and cherish.  The women here wear a headcover when they are married, which is a type of veil, but not as restrictive as the veils other women wear.  The veil of the temple was to keep sacred the Holy of Holies.  I too like this word picture, though I know some would argue the negative side of this term.

The fourth term for the man is "resde" simply meaning "to marry" and "reseede" for the woman meaning "to be married".  This is the least informative and least descriptive of all the words used.

The fifth term for the woman is "hortaade" meaning "to be old or to no longer be tired" which is ironically humorous once again as the lives of the women here are quite tiring.  However, the term for the man is "hortinde" which means "to esteem someone very highly".  I am not quite sure why this pair of words does not sync up as well as the others, but I definitely like this term for the husband to use.  The idea that a husband would highly esteem his wife is fabulous.  Unfortunately it does not always happen as often as one would like.  But I am blessed in that I feel highly esteemed by my husband.   

Isn't language funny?  In English we have but one word, "married", and it offers so little in the way of a word picture.  But this language offers 5 different words for both the husband and the wife.  Which one is your favorite term and why?