susurrus Latin · revision 35777

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [sʊˈsʊr.rʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [suˈs̬ur.rus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''susurrus''' ''m'' (genitive susurrī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Apuleius has a genitive ''susurrūs'' and an ablative ''susurrū''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an onomatopoeic word: its reduplication, hissing /s/ and doubled /r/ imitate the sound of whispering and rustling.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan allows that it may still be built on [[ine-pro|*suer-|t=to resound]],^(de Vaan 2008) which Wiktionary and Köbler also give.^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) He compares [[osc|sverruneí]], the title of an official of Abella, perhaps “speaker”,^(de Vaan 2008) and words such as [[sa|स्वर|tr=svára-|t=to make a sound, snort]], [[non|svarra|t=to sparkle, rustle]] and [[ang|swerian|t=to swear]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) for a [[m|en|whisper]]: in the ''Rudens'' a speaker demands that there be no murmur or whispering (''nolo murmur ullum neque susurrum fieri'').^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its basic sense is the sound of someone speaking softly, a whisper, and also a whispered report or insinuation.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Poets extend it to soft natural sounds: Virgil's hedge, grazed by bees, will invite sleep with its light hum (''levi somnum suadebit inire susurro''), and Calpurnius uses it of fermenting must.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Horace has gentle whispers at nightfall, and Ovid personifies the ''Susurri'' as attendants of Rumour.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Ecclesiastical Latin also uses it as an adjective for “whispering” and as a noun for a whisperer.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for whispering.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for the hum of bees.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses the plural for gentle whispers.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid personifies the ''Susurri''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|whisper]], a low voice; a whispered report or [[m|en|insinuation]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A soft [[m|en|rustling]], humming or murmuring sound of things.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[susurratim]]

+ * [[susurrō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A rare adjective ''susurrus, -a, -um'', “whispering”, appears in Ovid.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}