balo Latin · revision 35689

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈbaː.ɫoː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈbaː.lo]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bālō''' (present infinitive bālāre, perfect active bālāvī, supine bālātum); first conjugation, no passive^(Wiktionary)

+ Varro has the spelling ''baelare'' (or ''belare'').^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ A form ''bēlō'' is found in glosses.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is onomatopoeic, imitating the bleating of sheep.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Renderings of that sound vary between /aː/ and /eː/ in the Indo-European languages, as in [[en|baa]].^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan thinks the verb took its suffix from [[ululo|alt=ululō]] “to howl”, itself a reduplicated sound word;^(de Vaan 2008) the forms that Walde, Hofmann, Ernout and Meillet compare belong rather with [[fleo|alt=fleō]] “to weep”.^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary compares [[grc|βῆ|tr=bê]], the sheep's cry, and [[m|la|bēbō|t=to yell]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010) meaning “to [[m|en|bleat]]”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides the plain sense,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) the present participle became a standing epithet of sheep, and as a noun ''balantes'' meant simply “sheep”: Ennius has ''hostiis balantibus'', “with bleating victims”, and Lucretius, Virgil and Juvenal follow.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Varro has the joke ''satis balasti'', “you have bleated enough”, that is, talked enough about sheep.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) The Vulgate uses it of goats.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ Arnobius uses it figuratively for talking nonsense,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) a sense also given for Ecclesiastical Latin.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for bleating.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius calls sacrificial sheep “bleating victims”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro jokes ''satis balasti''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses ''balantes'' for sheep.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it for talking nonsense.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|bleat]], [[m|en|baa]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(present participle)'' Bleating, as an epithet of sheep;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''(plural, as a noun)'' sheep.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # To bleat (of goats).^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To talk [[m|en|nonsense]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bālitō]]

+ * [[bālātus]]

+ * [[dībālō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Varro explained that the sheep's voice sounds like ''be'', so that the Romans said ''be-lare'', which later lost a letter.^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}