trans-prefix

Etymology: The Latin preposition trans, ‘across, to or on the farther side of, beyond, over’, also used in combination, (1) with verbs, and their derived nouns and adjectives, e.g. transīre to go across, transitio, transitor, transitus, transitīvus, transitōrius; transferre to bear across, transfer, translātus, translātio, translātor, translātīvus, translātīcius; (2) with adjectives derived from nouns (more strictly with noun + adjectival suffix), as transfluviālis beyond the river, transfluvial, transmarīnus beyond sea, transmarine, transmontānus beyond the mountains, tramontane, translīmitānus beyond the boundary or frontier; especially with adjectives in -ānus, -īnus from names of mountains, rivers, or districts, as transalpīnus, transaustrīnus (Auster south wind), transdānubiānus, transpadānus (Padus Po), transrhēnānus (Rhēnus Rhine), transtiberīnus, transtigrītānus. Before initial s, the s of trans- was generally but not always dropped, as in transpicĕre to look through, transcendĕre to transcend, transcrībĕre to transcribe, transuĕre to stitch through. In a number of verbs and their derivatives, trans- was reduced before a consonant to trā-, e.g. trādĕre to hand over, tradūcĕre to lead across, trājicĕre or trāicĕre to throw across, trājectus a crossing, trānāre to swim across. In medieval Latin the number of these compounds was increased, and verbs formed also on nouns, as transaccidentāre to transpose the accidents, transubstantiāre to transmute the substance, transnoctāre to pass the night, transviāre to change the path or course of. They are also numerous in the modern Romanic languages. Many of the English words came through French; in Old French the inherited form was in tres-, as trespasser to trespass; the later adapted form is in trans-. In English, trans- occurs in compounds representing those already used in Latin, and in others formed analogously from Latin elements; also in compounds the second element of which is an English or other non-Latin word. Pronunciation. In the pronunciation of trans- in combination, great diversity prevails locally and individually in cultivated speech. This diversity affects both the vowel a and the consonant s. Historically, the a is short /æ/ as in man, banns, and it is so treated in nearly all pronouncing dictionaries. This pronunciation is retained in the north and west of England, in Scotland, in the United States, and by many speakers even in London and its surrounding area. But the general tendency in the London area to substitute for short /æ/ before certain consonant groups (as in chance, branch, demand, chant, pass, fast, ask) the long vowel /ɑː/ or something intermediate between /æ/ and /ɑː/, also affects trans-, so as to make its prevalent pronunciation /trɑːns/ in this area, and hence to extend this pronunciation among individuals or groups in other districts. When unstressed, this vowel sinks in some common words or in colloquial utterance to /ə/, e.g. in transfer verb /trənsˈfɜː(r)/. The s of trans- is regularly /s/ before a breath consonant, as in ˈtranscolate, transˈchange, ˈtransfer, transˈfer, tranˈspire; also, of course, where s coalesces with initial s of the second element, as in transcend, transcribe, transude. In the South of England many use /trɑːns-/ in all trans- combinations, irrespective of what consonant or vowel follows. But many, even in the south, use /trɑːnz-/ before a liquid, or nasal, or any voiced consonant, and before a vowel, and this is more or less recognized by recent orthoepists. This is specially the case with the word transact and its derivatives, where /trɑːnˈzækt/ appears to be the more prevalent pronunciation. It is to be observed also that the ordinary English school pronunciation of Latin trans, as a preposition and in combination, is /trænz/ rhyming with banns, plans, and that many classical scholars retain this pronunciation in English in combinations in which the identity of the prefix with Latin trans is specially obvious, as in trans-alpine, trans-danubian, trans-atlantic, trans-Pacific, trans-Jordan, trans-Caspian, trans-Siberian. In this work /trɑːns//træns/ is given as the usual form (except in transact, etc.); but the alternative /nz/ is given especially for words where it has long been recognized (as in transduce, transgress, etc.), though in many other words this pronunciation is now also heard. For the diverse treatment of a and s in these combinations, compare Walker, Smart, Ogilvie (Annandale), Cassell's Encycl. Dict., Webster, Cent. Dict., Funk's Standard Dict., and especially Schröer Neuenglisches Sprach-Aussprachwörterbuch, Heidelberg, 1913, and Michaelis and Jones A Phonetic Dictionary of the English Language, Berlin, London, etc. 1913, in which the subject is treated by skilled observers.