balbus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈbaɫ.bʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈbal.bus]^[1]

Forms

balbus (feminine balba, neuter balbum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *balbo-, from an onomatopoeic reduplicated Proto-Indo-European *bl-bl- (“meaningless twaddle, stammering”) that imitates unclear speech.^[2][3][4] De Vaan notes that the exact PIE form cannot be reconstructed.^[2] Cognate with Sanskrit बल्बलाकरोति (balbalā-karoti, “stammers”), Ancient Greek βαμβαλύζω (bambalúzō, “to chatter with the teeth”) and Lithuanian blebénti (“to chatter”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius uses it.^[2] Köbler dates Lucilius c. 180–102 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it described someone with a defect of speech, stammering or lisping, as in Cicero and Horace, and was opposed to clear speech.^[3][6][7] Döderlein says it was a habitual stammer, against blaesus, a passing one.^[8] From it came the verb balbūtiō “to stammer”.^[2]

It was also a Roman cognomen, as Lucius Cornelius Balbus, whom Cicero defended in 56 BC.^[3] In medieval England it was glossed with Old English and Middle English words for stammering and lisping.^[9] It survives as Italian balbo and Spanish bobo.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses balbūtiō.^[2][5]
• 56 BC – Cicero defends Lucius Cornelius Balbus.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Stammering, stuttering, lisping.^[3][6]

Word family

• balbūtiō
• subbalbe
• balbucinor
• balbūtiēs

Related words

• blatiō
• blaesus

Usage notes

As a cognomen, Balbus was borne by Lucius Cornelius Balbus, a supporter of Caesar.^[3][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press