List No. 111

NAMING THE PHONOGRAPH

Thomas Edison

November 1877

In November 1877, prolific American inventor Thomas Edison debuted his latest project, the “phonograph”, a ground-breaking device that was capable of not just recording sound, but also replaying it, and which directly inspired the development of the gramophone some years later. Prior to naming his new invention, Edison and his colleagues came up with dozens of potential monikers for the device – most bearing prefixes of Greek or Latin origin – and collated them in this list.

T. A. Edison.

Auto-Electrograph = Electric Pen

Tel-autograph

Tel-autophone

Polyphone = Manifold Sounder

Autophone = Self sounder

Kosmophone = Universal Sounder

Acoustophone = Sound hearer = Audible speaker

Octophone = Ear-sounder = speaker

Anitphone = Back-talker

Liguphone = Clear speaker

Minuttophone = Minute-sounder

Meistophone = Smallest sounder

Anchiphone = Near sounder or speaker

Palmatophone = Vibration sounder

Chronophone = Time-announcer = Speaking clock

Didaskophone = Teaching speaker = Portable teacher

Glottophone = Language sounder or speaker

Climatophone = Weather announcer

Atmophone = Fog sounder or Vapor-speaker

Palmophone = Pendulum sounder or Sounding pendulum

Pinakophone = Speaking Register

Hemerologophone = Speaking almanac

Kalendophone = Speaking Calendar

Sphygmophone = Pulse speaker

Halmophone = Heart-beat-sounder

Seismophone = Earthquake sounder

Electrophone = Electric speaker

Brontophone = Thunder sounder

Klangophone = Bird-cry sounder

Surigmophone = Whistling sounder

Bremophone = Wind sounder

Bittako-phone = Parrot speaker

Krogmophone = Croaking or Cawing sounder

Hulagmophone = Barking sounder

Trematophone = Sound borer

Telephemist telephemy telepheme

Electrophemist electrophemy electropheme

Phemegraph = speech writer

Omphegraph-gram = voice writer or recorder

Melodograph Melograph Melpograph-gram = song writer

Epograph = speech writer, lecture or sermon

Rhetograph = speech writer

Kinemograph = motion writer

Atmophone = vapor or steam sound

Aerophone = air-sound

Symphraxometer = pressure measurer

Synothemeter = pressure measurer

Orcheograph = vibration record

Orcheometer