In this paper two etymologies are revisited: Latin audio and ausculto. Thse verbs
are both clearly connected. Thy remotely derivate their form from the name of the ear,
namely the Latin root *aus-. After dealing with the Indo-European comparisons of Latin
auris ‘ear’, I discuss the complex etymology of audio by reviewing all the phonological
explanations.
For this issue two main possible solutions are reviewed: on the one hand that from
*aṷizdii̯ō so that audio < *aṷis + *dh-ie/o- ‘to render manifest to hearing’. On the other
hand that which directly derives from *aus- (i.e. *ausdii̯ō) so that audio < *aus + *dh-ie/o-
‘to give/put ear’.
Ausculto is traditionally explained as *aus- ‘ear’ + *cult-ō, reversal for *cluto ‘hear’
(cf. Latin clueo, inclitus) so that ‘hear with the ear’, as the analogous formation of Greek
ὠτακουστέω ‘listen with the ears’. Instead of supposing such an improbable collocation
of two items, I assume a simpler derivation as an intensive-frequentative verb from the
denominative of the diminutive of *aus-, i.e. *aus- ‘ear’ > dim. *ausculum > denom.
*ausculio > int.-freq. ausculto, according to the popular use in Latin ofausculto.
In all these cases it is important to underline the productivity in Latin of the root
*aus-, which underlies auris, audio and ausculto
