by Kerry Maxwell with recordings by speechinaction - listening and pronunciation online
‘… time for Australia to fall in line with places such as the UK, where councils have renamed Christmas “Winterval” and replaced references to Christmas on signage with the words “Festive” and “Winter”.’ (Queensland Sunday Mail, 4th December 2005) This festive season, you’ll no doubt be sending Winterval cards, decorating your Winterval tree and tucking into Winterval pudding and Winterval cake. If all this sounds a bit odd, consider that the word Christmas is rather biased towards one particular faith. In an effort to embrace all religions, not just Christianity, during the festive season, the term Winterval has been suggested as a politically-correct alternative which potentially encompasses Jewish Hanukkah, Afro-Caribbean Kwanzaa, Hindu Diwali and pagan festivals such as Yule or the Winter Solstice. The word Christmas is derived from Old English Crīstes mass, meaning literally, ‘mass of Christ’. Conventional dictionary definitions of Christmas define it as ‘an annual Christian festival celebrating Christ’s birth, held on 25th December’. However, we all know that, in reality, the word Christmas represents a period from early December to New Year’s Eve, during which people party, eat special food, give presents and, just maybe, set foot in a Christian place of worship. With less than ten per cent of the British population going to church, an established multi-cultural society, and secular rather than religious traditions dominating the festive period, some would argue that there is a convincing case for British English to drop Christmas and adopt Winterval. Background Winterval is a blend of the words Winter and festival, which first hit the headlines in 1998 when it was used by Birmingham City Council in the UK. In an effort to create a more multi-cultural atmosphere in keeping with the city’s mix of ethnic groups, the council introduced the term to describe a three-month period of multi-faith and secular events running from October to January. Not surprisingly, the term was the subject of some controversy, prompting a reaction from the then Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Rev Mark Santer (similarity to the name of the man in the red hat purely coincidental!). In response, the council stated that they wanted people to celebrate Christmas, claiming that “Christmas is the very heart of Winterval.” Given that fierce arguments still persist between those who want to ‘include all’ and those who want to preserve the Christian roots of the festive season, formal recognition of the word Winterval in published dictionaries still seems some way off. So just in case the expression fades into lexical obscurity, let me take this opportunity to say:
Merry Winterval and a Happy New Year!
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