intonation

Forms

intonation f (plural intonations)^[1] Middle French intonacion.^[2]

Etymology

It is a learned derivative (1372) from Medieval Latin intonō (“to intone”).^[3][4][5] The Medieval Latin verb was itself adapted from the French verb entonner².^[3][4][5] The GLLF also sees the influence of Classical Latin intonō (“to thunder”) and tonus (“tone, sound”),^[2] and the DHLF traces the French verb to the Classical Latin one, a derivative of tonō (“to thunder”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1372, in J. Goulain's translation of G. Durant's Rationale, as a term of plainchant: the act of setting a chant in the tone in which it is to be sung.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Still in music, it came to mean the act or manner of producing a musical sound with the voice (Rabelais, 1552).^[3][4] About 1770 Duclos uses it for the tone the voice takes in speaking, and it then named the pattern of pitch in an utterance, the sense taken up by linguistics, where langues à intonations has been replaced by langues à tons.^[3][4] In plainchant it also names the short opening phrase of a piece.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1372 – First recorded as a plainchant term in J. Goulain's translation of the Rationale.^[3]
• 1552 – Rabelais uses it for the manner of producing a sung sound.^[3][4][7]
• c. 1770 – Duclos uses it for the tone of the speaking voice.^[3][4]
• 20th century – The derivatives intonatif and intoné appear.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (music) The pitch at which a note is sung or played, and the way it is attacked: avoir l'intonation juste.^[6][3]
2. (liturgy) The opening part of a psalm or chant in Gregorian chant, and by extension the act of intoning a chant (entonner²).^[6][3]
3. The tone of voice one takes in speaking or reading, its inflections: une voix aux intonations douces.^[6][2]
4. (linguistics) The intonation of an utterance, the place of pitch or tone accent.^[6][4]

Word family

• intonatif

Related words

• ton²
• Medieval Latin intonō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette