modulatio

Forms

modulātiō f (genitive modulātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin modulor (“to measure, regulate”) + -tiō.^[2][3][1] The verb is formed from modulus (“small measure”),^[1] which de Vaan lists from Varro on among the derivatives of modus (“measure”);^[4][3] Augustine already derived the noun from modus.^[4][3] De Vaan traces modus to Proto-Italic *medo- (“measure, judgement”) and Proto-Indo-European *med-o- (“measure”), comparing Umbrian meřs (“law”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Vitruvius,^[5][3] who writes that there are three kinds of modulationes in music, which the Greeks call harmonic, chromatic and diatonic.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Vitruvius uses it both of the musical modulation of tones and of calculating the measurements of a building from a standard unit.^[2] Lewis and Short call it post-Augustan in its general sense of a regular measure, as in Gellius' modulatio incedendi, marching in time.^[6] Quintilian applies it to rhythm, to the scansion of syllables and to the melody of the voice.^[6] The TLL notes that it is found from Vitruvius and both Senecas on but that poets avoid it, except Ausonius and Martianus Capella;^[3] Augustine said that the word almost contains the definition of music.^[3] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means melody, singing or chanting,^[7] and in medieval Latin melody.^[8] English took modulation from it in the late 14th century, partly through Old French.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of musical modulation and of measurements.^[2][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of rhythm and of the melody of the voice.^[6][5]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of marching in time.^[6][5]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine derives it from modus and treats it as the essence of music.^[3][5]
• late 14th century – English borrows modulation.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A regular measure; rhythm, rhythmical measure.^[6]
2. Inflection of tone, modulation; melody, singing and playing.^[2][6][7]
3. Calculation of measurements from a standard unit.^[2]

Related words

• English modulation

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com