pronuntiatio

Forms

prōnūntiātiō f (genitive prōnūntiātiōnis); third declension^[1] Also spelled prōnunciātiō.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōnūntiō (“to proclaim, pronounce”) + -tiō.^[3][4][1] That verb is formed from prō- and nūntiō (“to announce”), itself from nūntius (“messenger”).^[3][5] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨*nountio-⟩ for that noun but finds its further origin unclear: it has been linked with the root Proto-Indo-European *neuH- (“to cry”) and with novus (“new”), a derivation he finds morphologically unlikely.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,^[6] who uses it of a judicial verdict;^[3] the TLL finds it in the rhetorical writers from the Rhetorica ad Herennium on,^[4] which defines delivery: prōnūntiātiō est vōcis, vultūs, gestūs moderātiō cum venustāte, “delivery is the graceful control of voice, face and gesture”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Its earliest senses are public: a proclamation, as in Caesar,^[3][2] and a judge's verdict, in Cicero and later the jurists.^[3] Cicero also uses it in logic for a proposition, which must be either true or false,^[3] and the jurists of a declaration in a legal transaction.^[3] The TLL notes that it is common in the rhetoricians and grammarians, above all in Quintilian, and rare elsewhere.^[4] In rhetoric it is oratorical delivery, the management of voice, face and gesture;^[3] Vitruvius uses it of actors speaking their lines;^[3] and Quintilian of the way a word or sound is spoken, its pronunciation or tone.^[3] In Ecclesiastical Latin it is publication, judgement and pronouncement,^[7] and in Medieval Latin an arbitrator's award.^[8] English took pronunciation in the early 15th century, from Old French and directly from the Latin word.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a verdict and of a logical proposition.^[3][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a proclamation.^[3][6]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of actors speaking their lines.^[3][6]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of delivery and pronunciation.^[3][4][6]
• 140–180 AD – Gaius uses it of the wording of a stipulation.^[3][6]
• Medieval Latin – It is used of an arbitrator's award.^[8]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as pronunciation.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A public announcement, proclamation.^[3][2]
2. A judicial pronouncement, verdict.^[3][7]
3. An open declaration, especially of a party in a legal transaction;^[3] (logic) a proposition.^[3]
4. Utterance, speech, diction.^[3][2]
5. (rhetoric) Oratorical delivery, including voice, gesture and facial expression; the speaking of an actor's lines.^[3]
6. The way a word is spoken, pronunciation or tone.^[3]
7. (Medieval Latin) An arbitrator's award.^[8]

Related words

• prōnūntiābilis
• prōnūntiātīvus
• prōnūntiātor
• prōnūntiō
• nūntius
• ēnūntiātiō

References

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