> Always interested in words and their origins, I read David's post with > pleasure, as usual. I was puzzled, though, about the word "viola," which > in > classical Latin refers to a flower (the violet).
_The Early History of the Viol_ By Ian Woodfield (ISBN 0521242924, 0521357438) probably hsa something to say. As I recall, Latin has this problem with technical terms for musical instruments, and viel is a generic word used for all stringed instruments, plucked as well as bowed. Spellinge being essentially the whimsical choice of how a particular scribes ear got set to paper there are many variations over the several centuries for which we have records that survive. NGD, OED are other places to look for etymology. Woodfield postulates a spanish papcy linked origin for the viola a mano & vdg in italy; I would expect the spanish etymology to precede that and have some arabic influence; however, that doesnt get us into Latin. -- Dana Emery To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
