monotone

English

WOTD – 12 September 2007    

Etymology

From the post-Classical Latin monotonus (“unvarying in tone”) or its etymon the Ancient Greek μονότονος (monotonos, “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: /ˈmɒ.nə.təʊn/, X-SAMPA: /"mQ.n@.t@Un/
• (US) IPA: /ˈmɑː.nə.toʊn/, X-SAMPA: /"mA:.n@.toUn/

Adjective

monotone (comparative more monotone, superlative most monotone)

1. (of speech or a sound) having a single unvaried pitch
   • 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.

   • 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, Georgetown University Press, Research on Telephone vs. In-Person Administrative Hearings, page 76:

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

2. (mathematics) property of a function to be either always decreasing or always increasing
   • The function $f(x):=x^3$ is monotone while $g(x):=x^2$ is not.

Translations

having a single pitch

• Catalan: monòton (ca)
• Czech: jednotvárnost jeho hlasu (cs)
• German: monton (de)
• Italian: monotonale (it)
• Romanian: monoton (ro)

• Russian: монотонный (ru) (monotónnyj)
• Spanish: monótono (es)
• Swedish: monoton (sv)

Noun

monotone (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.

Derived terms

• monotonic
• monotonous
• monotony

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.

---

French

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: /mɔnɔtɔn/

Adjective

monotone (masculine and feminine, plural monotones)

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

---

Italian

Adjective

monotone f

1. Feminine plural form of monotono