syllaba

syllaba

Interlingua

Noun

syllaba (plural syllabas)

1. syllable

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Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsyl.la.ba/, [ˈs̠ʏlːʲäbä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsil.la.ba/, [ˈsilːäbä]

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. (figuratively, in the plural) poems, verses

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	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
• → Old High German: sillaba
  • Middle High German: silbe, sillabe
    • German: Silbe
      • → Latvian: zilbe
      • → Romansch: 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, 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