tale English · revision 6908

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 950|origins=gem-pro *talō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /teɪl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English tale, [[inh|ang|talu|t=story, narrative; account; talk]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) from [[gem-pro|*talō]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) which is also the source of [[ofs|tale|t=number, speech]], [[osx|tala|t=number]], [[nl|taal|t=speech, language]], [[goh|zala|t=number]] (German Zahl) and [[non|tala|t=speech, narrative, number]], and is related to [[got|𐍄𐌰𐌻𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=talzjan|t=to teach]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Watkins derives it from PIE [[ine-pro|*del-|t=to recount, count]],^(Etymonline) and Barnhart compares [[grc|δόλος|tr=dólos|t=craftiness]].^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[tell]] and [[talk]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English talu, about 950 in the Lindisfarne Gospels;^(Barnhart 1988) the OED's earliest sense, the action of telling, discourse, talk, is from about 1000.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old English talu also meant a deposition, accusation or reproach.^(Etymonline) A narrative, the relation of a series of events, is from before 1060.^(OED 1989) Etymonline suggests the original sense of the story meaning may have been an account of things in their due order.^(Etymonline) Number or reckoning, a tally, is from about 1200,^(Etymonline) and Hoad and NODE think this sense probably came from Old Norse;^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) if the etymology is right, it may be nearer to the prehistoric Germanic meaning.^(Etymonline) Things told so as to betray a confidence, as in ''to tell tales'', are from about 1350,^(OED 1989) and a falsehood or lie is also an old sense.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) An enumeration or list is a rare Old English sense, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 950 – Old English talu, in the Lindisfarne Gospels.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1000 – talk, discourse.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1060 – a narrative, story.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – a number, reckoning.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1350 – tales told out of school.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A story of real or imaginary events, especially an imaginative one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A malicious story or piece of [[gossip]]: ''to tell tales''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A deliberate lie; a falsehood.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A [[tally]] or total; a number.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[taleteller]]

+ * [[folktale]]

+ * [[talebearer]]

+ * [[tattletale]]

+ * [[telltale]]

+ * [[fairy-tale]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tell]]

+ * [[talk]]

+ * [[teller]]

+ * [[fairy tale]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}