The following legend is current among the Koramas, to explain the practice of the couvade among them.
Krishna Rao, Superintendent of Police in the Shimoga district of Mysore, I am indebted for the following note on the couvade as practiced among the Koramas.
It may well be that the Couvade arose in the father's desire to emphasize the bond of blood between himself and his child.
The couvade usually has reference to the period immediately following the birth of a child; but among the native tribes of South America, where it is more extensively prevalent than elsewhere, it is observed while the child is still unborn.
A] The couvade custom is thus closely connected with the question of the special relationship of a child to one or other of its parents.
A] Various explanations of the custom of couvade have been offered, and probably C.
The retainers of the couvade in Asia are the Miau-tsze of China and the savage Tibareni of Pontus.
Here we find, covering a vast compact area of country, the mental stratum, so to speak, to which the couvade most nearly belongs.
In Europe the couvademay be traced up from ancient into modern times in the neighbourhood of the Pyrenees.
The practice of the couvade was universal, in some form or other, amongst the Carib races, but was unknown amongst the peoples whom I have called the Nahuatls.
The couvade is developed to the highest degree in South America and the West Indies.
For a fuller account of the couvade I must refer my readers to Tylor's "Early History of Mankind", from which I have so largely quoted; his summing up of this curious custom is profound and philosophical.
The way in which the couvade appears in the new and old worlds is especially interesting from this point of view.
The following account is given by Du Tertre of the Carib couvade in the West Indies.
Just as there is very commonly a taboo on the mother and her new-born child, so also, in the regions where couvade exists, is this transferred to the husband.
The custom of couvade is clearly the result of an ideational association between husband and wife--one that is absolutely analogous to that between the two mothers of the married couple.
This, however, as Mr. Hartland shows, is not unusual, and the Couvade is not found in the lowest stage of savagery.
In connection with this subject of parturition impurity, the very remarkable custom of the Couvade may be referred to here.
One instance of the actual Couvade is given by Professor Sir Monier-Williams.
When asked why he refrains from work, they simply say that he is so pleased with the safety of his wife and the birth of his child, that he takes a holiday; but some survival of the Couvade is probably at the root of the custom.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "couvade" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
