Limbă, Literatură, Folclor

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52505/llf.2025.2.13

Abstract: The present paper discusses the evolution of testamentary discourse in the Romanian context. Documents through which provisions are made regarding the transfer of property to heirs offer valuable information both for the national legal framework and for philological research, providing details on the Romanian language in its dynamics. The main terms associated with these documents – diată and testament – illustrate the genre’s evolution from tradition to modernity, a transition accompanied by a series of structural, stylistic, lexical, and functional changes. While in the medieval period the diată was characterized by a confessional, solemn language, rich in religious formulas, affectionate appellations, and moral exhortations, with spiritual and communal value, beginning with the modern period and the adoption of the 1864 Civil Code, the personal tone was replaced by a terminological, impersonal one, adapted to legal requirements. The study highlights the preserved elements (tripartite structure, identification of the testator, statement of motivation) as well as the changes that reflect transformations in Romanian mentality and culture, as well as in legal acts. Thus, the testament gradually becomes a legal instrument for patrimonial transfer, largely losing its confessional and moralizing functions.

Keywords: diată, testament, discourse, testamentary discourse, civil code.