polytonic

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús

Ancient Greek πολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)lbor.

English poly-

Proto-Indo-European *ten-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *tónos

Proto-Hellenic *tónos

Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos)

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Ancient Greek -κός (-kós)

Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós)

Ancient Greek τονῐκός (tonĭkós)

English tonic

English polytonic

From poly- + tonic.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpɑliˈtɑnɪk/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpɒliˈtɒnɪk/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒnɪk

Adjective

polytonic (comparative more polytonic, superlative most polytonic)

1. Having several tones.

   Synonym: polytonal

   1. Of or using the Greek system of diacritics which employs the rough and smooth breathings and the grave, acute, and circumflex accents. Replaced by the monotonic system in 1982.

Antonyms

• monotonic

Derived terms

• polytonically
• polytonicity

Translations

having several tones

• Catalan: politònic
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• German: vieltönig, polytonisch

using the Greek system of diacritics

• Dutch: meertonig, meertonige
• French: polytonique (fr)
• Greek: πολυτονικός (el) m (polytonikós)
• Italian: politonico
• Spanish: politónico

Further reading

• Greek diacritics on Wikipedia.Wikipedia