glottogony

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/ɡlɒˈtɒɡəni//ɡləˈtɒɡəni/

noun

The genesis of language, i. e. the emergence of a system of verbal communication from proto-linguistic or non-linguistic means of communication.

Scrabble 15
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Meanings

nounglottogony (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe genesis of language, i. e. the emergence of a system of verbal communication from proto-linguistic or non-linguistic means of communication.
  2. uncountableThe study of language origins.
    2 more examples

    The origin of words is a question that now falls within the chapter of “glottogony”, resurrected after decades of inactivity. There are now quite a few glottogonic theories, some of which are also concerned with the origin of words as, for example, the one that argues that original words are connected with phonosymbolism, […]

    1995, Werner Winter, editor, On Languages and Language […] , Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 19

    The topic of glottogony has long been a taboo in linguistics, for the very good reason that it attracts boundless speculation: when Darwinism was freshly en vogue in the 1860s, linguistic debate was inundated with such proposals to the point where, in 1866, the Linguistic Society of Paris banned the entire topic as a hopeless exercise […]

    2020, Philipp Roelli, editor, Handbook of Stemmatology […] , Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

Origin

From glotto- + -gony.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech glotogonie
  • glotogonieTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

glottogony. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glottogony

MLA

“glottogony.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glottogony. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “glottogony,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glottogony.

Source: glottogony on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.