intonatio

Forms

intonātiō f (genitive intonātiōnis); third declension^[1][2] It is also spelled intonacio.^[2][3]

Etymology

Formed in Medieval Latin,^[4] it is from Latin intonō (“to intone”),^[4][5][3] formed on its past participle stem.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates Latham's first record to about 1200.^[5] Ralph Niger, in his work on warfare, uses it for the pitch of the voice: in the din of battle, he says, the tone of a low voice is not heeded.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It became a term of church music for the intoning or chanting of psalms and canticles, especially in monasteries and cathedrals.^[4][2][1] The Lexicon musicum Latinum distinguishes two senses: the style of singing of psalmodic chants, and the opening melodic phrase of a chant.^[7] Walter Odington defines it as the light modulation of the psalms fitted to the antiphons, solemn for the gospel canticles and simple for the other psalms.^[7][4]

In Hungary and Poland it was used for the right pitch on which a chant begins and for the start of the singing itself.^[8][3] English took intonation in the 1610s through French.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – First record listed by Latham.^[5]
• 13th century – The Dominican tonary uses it of psalm singing.^[7]
• 13th–14th century – Walter Odington defines the solemn and simple intonation of the psalms.^[7]
• 1500 – The statutes of the Włocławek chapter use it for the intoning of a chant by the cantor.^[3]
• 1610s – English borrows it, through French, as intonation.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin, music) The intoning or chanting of psalms; the style of singing of a psalm tone.^[4][2][7][1]
2. (Medieval Latin, music) The opening melodic phrase of a chant; the start of the singing.^[7][3][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) The pitch or tone of the voice.^[4]

Related words

• English intonation

References

1. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
2. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
8. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE