monotone

English

WOTD – 12 September 2007

Etymology

From the post-Classical Latin monotonus (“unvarying in tone”) or its etymon the Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos, “steady”, “unwavering”); compare cognate adjectives, namely the French monotone, the German monoton, the Italian monotono, and the Spanish monótono, as well as the slightly earlier English noun monotony and adjective monotonical.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒn.ə.təʊn/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑː.nə.toʊn/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adjective

monotone (comparative more monotone, superlative most monotone)

1. (of speech or a sound) Having a single unvaried pitch.
   • 1940, Asiatic Society (Calcutta, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, India), Journal of the Asiatic Society, page 95:

     The prominence of the syllables is more monotone than in English, the intonation of the latter having a larger variation of stressed and unstressed syllables.

   • 1998, Roger W. Shuy, “Bureaucratic Language in Government and Business”, in Research on Telephone vs. In-Person Administrative Hearings, Georgetown University Press, page 76:

     In the formal register, such variation is reduced and the talk has a more monotone, business-like quality.

2. (mathematics) Being, or having the salient properties of, a monotone function.

   The function $f(x):=x^{3}$ is monotone on $\mathbb {R}$, while $g(x):=x^{2}$ is not.

Derived terms

• pseudomonotone

Translations

having a single pitch

• Bulgarian: еднозвучен (ednozvučen)
• Catalan: monòton
• Czech: jednotvárnost jeho hlasu
• Finnish: monotoninen (fi)
• German: monton
• Italian: monotonale
• Maori: hātahi
• Portuguese: monótono (pt), monotónico (Portugal), monotônico (Brazil)
• Romanian: monoton (ro)
• Russian: моното́нный (ru) (monotónnyj)
• Spanish: monótono (es)
• Swedish: monoton (sv)

Noun

monotone (countable and uncountable, plural monotones)

1. A single unvaried tone of speech or a sound.

   When Tima felt like her parents were treating her like a servant, she would speak in monotone and act as though she were a robot.

   • 1799, John Walker, Elements of Elocution, Cooper and Wilson, page 309:

     It is no very difficult matter to be loud in a high tone of voice; but to be loud and forcible in a low tone, requires great practice and management; this, however, may be facilitated by pronouncing forcibly at firſt in a low monotone; a monotone, though in a low key, and without force, is much more ſonorous and audible than when the voice ſlides up and down at almoſt every word, as it muſt do to be various.

   • 1846 October, Alfred B[illings] Street, “A Day’s Hunting about the Mongaup”, in George R[ex] Graham, editor, Graham’s American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art, volume XXIX, number 4, Philadelphia, Pa.: George R. Graham & Co., […], →OCLC, page 190:

     There is a water-break formed by a small terrace of rock in mid-stream, and purling with a hollow, delicious monotone—an island of pebbles is above, with here and there smaller ones near the "forks."

2. A piece of writing in one strain throughout.

Derived terms

• monotone convergence theorem
• monotonic
• monotonous
• monotony

Translations

A single tone in speech or sound

• Maori: hātahi, reo pūkawa

Verb

monotone (third-person singular simple present monotones, present participle monotoning, simple past and past participle monotoned)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To speak in a monotone.

Esperanto

Etymology

monotona +‎ -e

Adverb

monotone

1. monotonously
2. in monotone

French

Etymology

From Late Latin monotonus, from Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɔ.nɔ.tɔn/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

monotone (plural monotones)

1. monotone
2. whose speech is monotone
3. boring due to uniformity or lack of variety; monotonous

Further reading

• “monotone”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

monotone

1. inflection of monoton:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

monotone

1. feminine plural of monotono

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

monotone

1. definite singular of monoton
2. plural of monoton

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

monotone

1. definite singular of monoton
2. plural of monoton