tonal

Forms

tonal (feminine tonale, masculine plural tonals or tonaux, feminine plural tonales)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French ton² + -al, from the noun in its musical sense.^[2][1][3] The noun is from Latin tonus (“interval between two notes”), from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos).^[4] Rey calls the adjective a late derivative, later than tonalité (1821).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in Laveaux's dictionary in 1828, in music, meaning “relating to tonality”.^[2][5] The Petit Robert of 1972 dates it to about 1830;^[6] the GLLF to 1844, in Fétis,^[7] and Bloch and Wartburg to 1845.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In music it came to describe the system in which harmony and melody keep to a main key.^[5][8] The sense “relating to a pitch” is recorded in the Larousse of 1876,^[2][7] and in linguistics it describes the pitch of the voice, as in accent tonal and langues tonales.^[2][8][7]

It gave the adverb tonalement (1872), no longer used, and the prefixed music terms atonal (1914) and polytonal (1924).^[5]

Timeline

• 1828 – Laveaux records tonal in music.^[2][3]
• 1844 – Fétis writes of a transformation tonale.^[7]
• 1872 – The adverb tonalement.^[5]
• 1876 – The Larousse records the sense “relating to a pitch”.^[2]
• 1914 – Atonal appears.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to or defining a ton, a characteristic pitch: hauteur tonale.^[8][9]
2. (music) Relating to tonality, or organized on its principles: musique tonale, système tonal.^[8][9][7]
3. (phonetics, linguistics) Relating to tone, the height of the fundamental of the voice: accent tonal, langue tonale.^[2][8][7]

Word family

• atonal
• polytonal

Related words

• ton²
• tonalité
• Latin tonus

Usage notes

The masculine plural is usually tonals; the Petit Robert also allows tonaux,^[8][1] which the Grand Robert considers hardly possible because it sounds like tonneau.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)