Etymologically
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pronuntiatio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proː.nuːn.tiˈaː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pro.nun.t͡siˈat.t͡si.o][1]

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]

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