ascoltare Italian · revision 37788

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=second half of the 12th century, Ritmo di Sant'Alessio|origins=la auscultō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /as.kolˈta.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ascoltare''' (first-person singular present ascólto, first-person singular past historic ascoltài, past participle ascoltàto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|scoltare]], [[roa-oit|ascultare]] and [[roa-oit|ascholtare]];^(LEI|3, 2536)^(TLIO) Old Lombard had ''scoltar'' and Old Venetian ''ascoltar''.^(LEI|3, 2536)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|ascultō|alt=ascultāre]], a form of [[m|la|auscultō|t=to listen]] recorded from the 2nd century, in the grammarian Flavius Caper.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(LEI|3, 2536)^(DÉRom)^(Wiktionary) DELI explains the loss of the first ⟨u⟩ by dissimilation, as in [[agosto]], and Devoto by the usual reduction of ⟨au⟩ before the stress.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ Nocentini calls the word pan-Romance: [[fr|écouter]], [[oc|escoutar]], [[ca|escoltar]], [[es|escuchar]], [[pt|escutar]], [[sc|ascultare]] and [[ro|asculta]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance /asˈkʊlt-a-/ for most branches but refers the Vegliote, Occitan, Gascon and Catalan words to a type /esˈkolt-a-/.^(DÉRom) The learned doublet is [[auscultare]], the medical term.^(LEI|3, 2536)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The Latin verb keeps ⟨aus-⟩, the old stem of [[m|la|auris|t=ear]] before rhotacism; its second part is usually connected with [[ine-pro|*ḱlew-|t=to hear]], and de Vaan finds this likely if the form passed through a stage with a syllabic /l/.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio, a poem from the Marche of the second half of the 12th century.^(TLIO) DELI finds ''scoltare'' in the Ritmo cassinese (end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century) and ''ascoltare'' in Jacopone da Todi before 1306, with the senses “to listen, to heed”.^(DELI 1999) The LEI records Lombard ''scoltar'' early in the 13th century and Venetian ''ascoltar'' about 1250.^(LEI|3, 2536)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian already used the verb for eavesdropping, for hearing an official document read out, for granting a prayer, for learning of something, for heeding advice or authority, and for attending a religious service.^(TLIO) The old noun ''ascolta'', with the shorter ''scolta'', meant a sentry in Ariosto, a military sense shared with Old French and Old Galician.^(Prati 1951|76)^(LEI|3, 2536) ''Ascoltatore'' is in Boccaccio in 1336, and ''ascolto'', formed from the verb, in Franco Sacchetti before 1400.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In medicine the verb also stands for ''auscultare'', listening to the sounds of the chest.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Petrarch's ''Canzoniere'' opens with it: “Voi ch'ascoltate in rime sparse il suono” (you who hear in scattered rhymes the sound).^(GDLI|1, 726)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Second half of the 12th century – The Ritmo di Sant'Alessio uses the verb.^(TLIO)

+ * Early 13th century – Old Lombard ''scoltar'' is recorded.^(LEI|3, 2536)

+ * About 1250 – Old Venetian ''ascoltar'' is recorded.^(LEI|3, 2536)

+ * Before 1306 – Jacopone da Todi uses ''ascoltare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1336 – Boccaccio uses ''ascoltatore''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses ''ascolto''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|listen]] to, hear attentively; also without an object: ''Stasera ascoltiamo un concerto alla radio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In ''ascoltare la messa'', to attend mass.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # To [[m|en|heed]] advice; to obey: ''Avresti dovuto ascoltare tuo padre.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To grant a prayer or request, often in the passive.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(medicine)'' To [[m|en|auscultate]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(reflexive, ascoltarsi)'' To listen to oneself, or to one's own feelings.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ascolto]]

+ * [[ascoltatore]]

+ * [[riascoltare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[auscultare]]

+ * [[la|auscultō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}