linguatulus

From linguātus +‎ -ulus (diminutive suffix).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /linˈɡʷaː.tu.lus/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /linˈɡwa.tu.lus/,

linguātulus (feminine linguātula, neuter linguātulum); first/second-declension adjective

1. (hapax) diminutive of linguātus
   • c. 160 CE – c. 225 CE, Tertullian, Ad nationes libri duo 1.8:

     Age nunc, perseuerauerit Philomelae medicamentis ⟨ . . . .⟩ quam et ipsam prudentiores non linguae caede, sed ⟨ra⟩p⟨ti pu⟩doris rubore mutam interpretantur. Si ergo vixit, ⟨potuit⟩ effutire aliquid : obtusum et exarticulatum sonum tinnitumque sine modulatu labellorum, expanso ore, lingua stupente de solis faucibus cogi licet. Id fors tunc infantes, quia unicum, facilius commentati paulo modulatius, utpote linguatul⟨i⟩ ⟨in⟩ inventum alicuius interpretationis impegeri<n>t.

     • 1869 translation by Peter Holmes

       Come, even suppose that by the remedies of a Philomela she retained her life, in the way supposed by wisest persons, who account for the dumbness not by cutting out the tongue, but from the blush of shame; if on such a supposition she lived, she would still be able to blurt out some dull sound. And a shrill inarticulate noise from opening the mouth only, without any modulation of the lips, might be forced from the mere throat, though there were no tongue to help. This, it is probable, the infants readily imitated, and the more so because it was the only sound; only they did it a little more neatly, as they had tongues; and then they attached to it a definite signification.

The difference in meaning between the diminutive and the base adjective is disputed: Lewis and Short defines it as "somewhat gifted with a tongue, sub-eloquent", i.e. as "linguātus to a small extent" or "possessing a small amount of the quality described by the word linguātus", but Petersen argues that this reading of the word as a "diminutive of quality" is incorrect. Petersen says that instead of adding the meaning "somewhat" or "sub-", the diminutive in this context is a hypocoristic that "expresses admiration for neatness, elegance, or beauty".^[1]

The adjective linguātus literally meant "tongued" (possessing a tongue); it was used with the metaphorical sense "eloquent", but in the context of Tertullian's story, which is about infants supposedly raised by a nurse who had her tongue cut out, the literal meaning seems possible.

First/second-declension adjective.

• → Translingual: Linguatula

• “linguatulus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• linguatulus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.