Etymograph

English

bivocal

Bivocal comes from Latin vōcālis ‘uttering a voice, having a voice’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-‘to speak, to sound out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs‘voice, speech’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōks‘voice’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōx‘voice’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcālis‘uttering a voice, having a voice’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vocal
  7. English1500–presentsame form
  8. Englishtodaybivocal

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-‘to speak, to sound out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs‘voice, speech’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōks‘voice’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōx‘voice’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcālis‘uttering a voice, having a voice’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vocal
  7. English1500–presentsame form
  8. Englishtodaybivocal

A compound of bi- + vocal

Proto-Indo-European *dwi- ‘two’

Proto-Italic *dwi- ‘two, bi-, di-’

English bi-

Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’

…

Proto-Italic *wōks ‘voice’

Latin vōx ‘a voice, sound, tone’

Latin vōcālis ‘uttering a voice, sounding, speaking’

Middle English vocal

English vocal

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’

epic, wight, whit, epos, 30 more

through Proto-Italic *wōks ‘voice’

voiceless, 26 more

through Latin vōx ‘voice’

voice, invite, invitation, vie, invoke, vox, vouch, invocation, vociferous, 23 more

through Latin vōcālis ‘uttering a voice, having a voice’

vowel, 12 more

through English vocal

vocalist, vocally, vocaloid, vocalize, 10 more

Today it means

noun A diphthong

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- / bivocal

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