glottochronology
Meaningtiming of tongues
Common meaning: dating language splits from rates of word replacement
- glottthe tongue; speechLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 166 · scan
- chrontimeLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1743 · scan
- loga word, saying; reckoning, reasonLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 476 · scan
- ynoun ending: study, state or act
‘the tongue’ + ‘time’ + ‘a word, saying’ → glottochronology
Journey through time
Neither part’s path through time is traced in our sources yet; each root is shown from its dictionary entry.
- glott — Greek γλῶσσα, γλῶττα “the tongue; speech” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- chron — Ancient Greek χρόνος (khrónos) “time” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- log — Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) “a word, saying; reckoning, reason” (dictionary form; path not traced)
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: not available. Respelling: generated.
- US IPA: not available. Respelling: generated.
Origin: Built on Greek γλῶσσα ‘the tongue; speech’ + Ancient Greek χρόνος (khrónos) ‘time’ + Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) ‘a word, saying; reckoning, reason’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry χρόνος (khrónos), p. 1743 · dictionary scan
Roots
- γλῶσσα, γλῶττα Greek “the tongue; speech”
- λόγος (lógos) Ancient Greek “a word, saying; reckoning, reason”
- χρόνος (khrónos) Ancient Greek “time”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app