Spoken

How to spell spoken

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce spoken

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does spoken mean?

1. verbThe past participle of speak: having uttered words or expressed something aloud.
2. adjectiveExpressed in speech rather than in writing.

Spoken in a sentence

• verb

  She had spoken to the manager before the meeting began.

• adjective

  The spoken language often differs from the formal written version.

• verb

  The words were spoken quietly so no one else could hear.

• adjective

  English is the most widely spoken language at the conference.

Where does spoken come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Spoken is the past participle of speak, which descends from the Old English verb sprecan, later simplified to specan, meaning 'to talk or utter words'. This came from a Germanic root shared with the Dutch spreken and the German sprechen, all carrying the sense of producing speech. The original form held an 'r' after the 'sp', and traces of that older pronunciation survived for centuries before fading away. The participle ending '-en' is an old Germanic marker for past participles, the same one seen in broken, chosen, and frozen. The spelling can briefly trip writers because the vowel in the second syllable is an unstressed schwa, leaving people unsure whether to write '-en' or '-on'.

How the word is built

• spok- (from Old English sprecan/specan: to speak)
• -en (past participle suffix)