lingua Italian · revision 38261

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=10th century, Glossario di Monza|origins=ine-pro *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈlin.ɡwa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lingua''' ''f'' (plural lingue)^(Wiktionary)

+ The Tuscan form is ''lingua'';^(DEI|2238)^(TLIO) Old Italian and the northern dialects have ''lengua'', and the TLIO also records ''lenga'' and ''linga''.^(DEI|2238)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|lingua|t=tongue; language]], which already had both senses, as Greek did.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The same word is [[fr|langue]], [[oc|lenga]], [[ca|llengua]], [[es|lengua]], [[pt|língua]], [[sc|limba]] and [[ro|limbă]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin word comes from an older [[m|la|dingua]], recorded by the grammarian Marius Victorinus, and goes back to [[itc-pro|*dn̥ɣwā]] and a [[ine-pro|*dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s|t=tongue]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Its *l-* was taken from [[m|la|lingō|t=to lick]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) Cognates include [[sa|जिह्वा|tr=jihvā́]], [[cu|языкъ|tr=językŭ]], [[got|𐍄𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍉|tr=tuggō]], [[goh|zunga]] and [[en|tongue]], and in many of these languages the word for the tongue changed its sounds by taboo or by association with “licking”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Before /ng/ the Latin short vowel gave /i/ in Tuscan but /e/ in the north.^(DEI|2238)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the Glossary of Monza of the 10th century.^(TLIO) In literature DELI dates the sense “tongue”, the organ of taste and speech, to before 1276 in Guido Guinizelli, who writes that if every part of the body became a tongue, it could not tell his lady's beauty.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|9, 104)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “language”, the system a community uses to speak and write, appears before 1294 in Brunetto Latini, who also uses the word for the particular usage of a group or a writer.^(DELI 1999)^(DIFIT) In the 14th-century Bible translations ''lingua'' also means a nation, an old metaphor.^(DELI 1999) The phrase for the Italian language itself is recorded before 1530, and the plural ''le lingue'' for foreign languages in 1777, in Pietro Verri.^(DELI 1999) Old Italian already applied the word to anything shaped like a tongue: a strip of land, a tongue of flame (the fire of Pentecost), the pointer of a balance.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2238) A proverb of the time warns ''la lingua non ha osso ma fa rompere il dosso'', “the tongue has no bone, but it breaks backs”.^(TLIO)

+

+ ''Lingua franca'' first meant “the language of the Franks”, that is, of the Westerners, as the peoples of the Levant called them.^(DELI 1999) The learned derivatives are modern, and several follow French: ''linguaggio'' is [[fr|langage]], ''linguista'' follows the French and German words, and ''linguistica'' (1807) is German ''Linguistik''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The cooked tongue of an ox or calf as a dish is recorded in 1869.^(DELI 1999) English used ''lingua'' for a language or jargon from 1675.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 10th century – The word appears in the Glossary of Monza.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1276 – Guido Guinizelli uses it for the tongue.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for a language.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – Bible translations use it for a nation.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1530 – The word is recorded for the Italian language.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1675 – English ''lingua'' “language, jargon” is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1777 – Pietro Verri uses the plural for foreign languages.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1807 – ''Linguistica'' appears, from German.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1869 – Tommaseo records tongue as a dish.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(anatomy)'' The [[m|en|tongue]], the muscular organ in the mouth used in tasting, chewing, swallowing and speaking: ''Il dottore mi ha chiesto di tirare fuori la lingua.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(cooking)'' Tongue of a slaughtered animal as food: ''lingua salmistrata''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Something long and narrow shaped like a tongue: ''una lingua di terra'', a spit of land, ''una lingua di fuoco''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(TLIO)

+ # A [[m|en|language]], the system of speech and writing of a community: ''Quante lingue si parlano in Svizzera?''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The particular usage of a period, a group or an author: ''la lingua di Manzoni''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(in the plural)'' Foreign languages, as a subject of study.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[linguaggio]]

+ * [[linguista]]

+ * [[linguistica]]

+ * [[linguistico]]

+ * [[linguaccia]]

+ * [[linguacciuto]]

+ * [[linguale]]

+ * [[linguetta]]

+ * [[linguella]]

+ * [[linguina]]

+ * [[linguaiolo]]

+ * [[slinguare]]

+ * [[protolingua]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[leccare]]

+ * [[linguata]]

+ * [[linguine]]

+ * [[scilinguare]]

+ * [[scioglilingua]]

+ * [[la|lingua]]

+ * [[fr|langue]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''La lingua batte dove il dente duole'', “the tongue goes where the tooth aches”, says that talk keeps returning to what worries us.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) Several plant names are formed with ''lingua'', such as ''lingua cervina'', hart's-tongue fern, and ''lingua di cane'', hound's-tongue, calques of Greek names.^(DEI|2238)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}