Etymology

tonogenesis

T1O1N1O1G2E1N1E1S1I1S1

Today it means: A process in which a language develops tones. Full definition →

Ancient Greek γένεσῐς (génesĭs) ← Proto-Hellenic *génetis ← Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ten-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*tónos
  3. Proto-Hellenic*tónos
  4. Ancient Greekτόνος (tónos)
  5. Englishtono-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*ǵenh₁-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*ǵénh₁tis
  8. Proto-Hellenic*génetis
  9. Ancient Greekγένεσῐς (génesĭs)
  10. English todaytonogenesis

From tono- + -genesis; coined by American linguist James Matisoff in 1970 in his paper Glottal dissimilation and the Lahu high-rising tone: A tonogenetic case-study.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.