interlocutio

Interlocutio is a noun referring to the act or mode of conversation, especially a structured exchange between speakers. In Latin usage, it denotes dialogue or a back-and-forth in speech and is encountered in rhetorical, literary, and pedagogical contexts. The term is often discussed in relation to the dynamics of question-and-answer exchanges within discourse.

Etymology and related forms: Interlocutio comes from the Latin inter- meaning between and loqui meaning to speak. Related descendants include interlocutor (a participant in a dialogue) and the English forms interlocution and interlocutory, which reflect the same linguistic lineage. In English-language scholarship, interlocution is used occasionally to denote the act of conversing, though more common terms are dialogue or conversation.

Historical usage: In classical rhetoric and philosophy, interlocutio described the deliberate exchange of questions and answers that advances inquiry or argument. It appears in Latin rhetorical treatises and in descriptions of dialogic pedagogy in late antiquity and the medieval period, where teaching and debate often took the form of sustained interlocutio between teacher and student or between disputing parties.

Modern usage: Today the term is primarily of historical or linguistic interest. In English, interlocution or interlocus terms are used selectively in linguistic or philological discussions, while the everyday concept is more typically conveyed by dialogue or conversation. The noun interlocutor denotes the participant in such an exchange.

See also: Interlocutor, Dialogue, Rhetoric, Socratic method.