dialogue English · revision 6194

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1225|origins=grc διάλογος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈdaɪ.ə.lɒɡ/, US /ˈdaɪ.ə.lɑːɡ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English dyaloge, [[bor|fro|dialoge]] and directly [[bor|la|dialogus]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[grc|διάλογος|tr=diálogos|t=conversation, discourse]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) related to [[m|grc|διαλέγεσθαι|tr=dialégesthai|t=to converse, speak alternately]] (see [[dialect]]),^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) from [[m|grc|διά|tr=diá|t=across, between]] and [[m|grc|λέγειν|tr=légein|t=to speak]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The American spelling is often [[dialog]].^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A literary work in the form of a conversation: probably before 1200 in the ''Ancrene Riwle'' in Barnhart, before 1225 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A conversation between two or more people is from about 1400 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1401 in the OED,^(OED 1989) and verbal interchange in general from about 1532.^(OED 1989) The conversation written for the characters of a play or novel is from 1589.^(OED 1989) A dialogue set to music for two or more voices is from 1653 but obsolete.^(OED 1989) In politics, discussion between the representatives of opposed parties or states is from 1953,^(OED 1989) and ''dialogue of the deaf'', translating French dialogue de sourds, from 1970.^(OED 1989) The belief that it can only mean a conversation between two people comes from confusing dia- with [[di-]], “two”;^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) ''trialogue'' appeared needlessly in 1532 for a conversation of three.^(Etymonline) The verb is from about 1600 in Etymonline, 1566 in MWU.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) In Lincolnshire dialect a dialogue was simply a talk.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1225 – a literary dialogue.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1401 – a conversation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1532 – trialogue.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1589 – dialogue in a play.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1953 – political dialogue.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A conversation between two or more people.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The spoken lines of the characters in a play, film or story.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A literary work written as a conversation, as Plato's.^(AHD)

+ # An exchange of ideas, especially open [[discussion]] between opposing sides.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To express in dialogue, or to take part in a dialogue.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dialoguer]]

+ * [[dialogic]]

+ * [[dialogist]]

+ * [[dialogize]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dialect]]

+ * [[dialectic]]

+ * [[dialectical]]

+ * [[dialog]]

+ * [[monologue]]

+ * [[prologue]]

+ * [[epilogue]]

+ * [[logic]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Word Origins notes the tendency in English to confine the sense to two speakers, perhaps by associating dia- with di-.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}