syllaba

Interlingua

Noun

syllaba (plural syllabas)

1. syllable

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱómder.?

Proto-Indo-European *sem-der.?

Proto-Hellenic *ksún

Ancient Greek σύν (sún)

Ancient Greek σῠν- (sŭn-)

Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂gʷ-der.

Proto-Hellenic *hlagʷ-

Ancient Greek λᾰμβᾰ́νω (lămbắnō)

Ancient Greek σῠλλᾰμβᾰ́νω (sŭllămbắnō)

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Hellenic *-ā́

Ancient Greek -ᾱ (-ā)

Ancient Greek -η (-ē)

Ancient Greek -ή (-ḗ)

Ancient Greek συλλαβή (sullabḗ)der.

Latin syllaba

From Ancient Greek συλλαβή (sullabḗ), from σύν (sún, “with, together”) + λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsyl.la.ba]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsil.la.ba]

Noun

syllaba f (genitive syllabae); first declension

1. syllable
   • 397 CE – 400 CE, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis, Cōnfessiōnēs 13.15:

     Vident enim [angelī] faciem tuam semper, et ibi legunt sine syllabīs temporum, quid velit aeterna voluntās tua.

     For they [the messengers/angels] always see your face, and they read there, without syllables of times, what your eternal will wills.

2. vowel
3. (figuratively, in the plural) poems, verses

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	syllaba	syllabae
genitive	syllabae	syllabārum
dative	syllabae	syllabīs
accusative	syllabam	syllabās
ablative	syllabā	syllabīs
vocative	syllaba	syllabae

Descendants

• Asturian: sílaba
• → Catalan: síl·laba
• → English: syllaba anceps
• Old French: sillable
  • → Middle English: sillable, syllable
    • English: syllable
  • French: syllabe
• Galician: sílaba
• → Old High German: sillaba
  • silbe, sillabe
    • German: Silbe
      • → Latvian: zilbe
      • → Romansh: silba
• → Old Irish: sillab
  • Irish: siolla
• Italian: sillaba
• Portuguese: sílaba
• Romanian: silabă
• Spanish: sílaba
• → Welsh: syllaf, sill

References

• “syllaba”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “syllaba”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “syllaba”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to lengthen the pronunciation of a syllable or letter: syllabam, litteram producere (opp. corripere) (Quintil. 9. 4. 89)
    
  • this word ends in a long syllable: haec vox longa syllaba terminatur, in longam syllabam cadit, exit
    
  • a verbal, petty critic; a caviller: syllabarum auceps