speech English · revision 2734

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 800|origins=gem-pro *sprekaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /spiːtʃ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|speche]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|spǣc|t=act or manner of speaking; utterance; statement; language]], spēc,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) a variant of earlier [[m|ang|sprǣc]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to [[m|ang|sprecan|t=to speak]], specan, the source of [[speak]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from Proto-Germanic *sprek-, *spek-.^(Etymonline) It is cognate with Old Frisian sprēke, Old Saxon sprāka, Dutch spraak, German Sprache and Danish sprog.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The forms with spr- were extinct in English by 1200.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act of speaking, the utterance of words: about 725 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Barnhart dates sprǣc before 800, in the ''Corpus Glossary'', and spǣc before 1050.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English spǣc had a range of senses: the power of uttering words, a manner of speaking, a statement or narrative, and a language.^(Etymonline) Talk, conversation or conference is from about 900.^(OED 1989) ''Speech'' was used of written words by about 1200.^(Etymonline) A formal address delivered to an audience is from the 1580s.^(Etymonline) Of a musical instrument or organ pipe, its sounding, it is from 1862,^(OED 1989) and in linguistics ''speech'' renders Saussure's parole from 1924.^(OED 1989) ''Speechify'', usually derogatory, is from the 18th century.^(Hoad 1986) The verb ''speech'', “to address in a speech”, from the 17th century, is now rare.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – the act of speaking.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 800 – Old English sprǣc.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 900 – conversation.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – the spr- forms lost.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – a formal address.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1924 – speech in linguistics.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The ability to speak; the act of speaking.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A formal talk given to an audience; an [[address]] or [[oration]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The way a person speaks: ''slurred speech''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A particular language or [[dialect]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Something spoken; a remark or conversation.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[speak]]

+ * [[spokesman]]

+ * [[speechless]]

+ * [[speechify]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}