aphesis
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aph·e·sis
(ăf'ĭ-sĭs) 
n., pl., -ses (-sēz').
The loss of an initial, usually unstressed vowel, as in cute from acute.
aphetically a·phet'i·cal·ly adv.
n., pl., -ses (-sēz').
The loss of an initial, usually unstressed vowel, as in cute from acute.
[Greek, a release, from aphīenai, aphe-, to let go : apo-, apo- + hīenai, to send; see diesis.]
aphetic a·phet'ic (ə-fĕt'ĭk) adj.aphetically a·phet'i·cal·ly adv.
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aphesis
Poetry Glossary:
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Aphesis
A form of aphæresis in which the syllable omitted is short and unaccented, as in round for around.
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Apheresis (linguistics)
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In phonetics, apheresis (
/əˈfɛrɨsɪs/ or /əˈfɪərɨsɪs/; British English: aphaeresis; from Greek apo away, hairein to take) is the loss of one or more sounds from the beginning of a word, especially the loss of an unstressed vowel.
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Apheresis as a historical sound change
In historical phonetics, the term "apheresis" is often but not always limited to the loss of an unstressed vowel. (The Oxford English Dictionary gives this particular kind of apheresis the name aphesis /ˈæfɨsɪs/.)
The loss of any sound
- English [k]nife pronounced /ˈnaɪf/
- Proto-Norse *[st]randa- (Swedish strand) > Finnish ranta "beach"
The loss of an unstressed vowel
- Greek episkopos > Vulgar Latin [e]biscopu > English bishop
- English [a]cute > cute
- English [E]gyptian > Gyptian > Gypsy[1]
- English [a]mend > mend
- English [e]scape + goat > scapegoat
- Old French evaniss > English vanish
- Old French estable > English stable
- Old French estrange > English strange
- English esquire > squire
- Akkadian Ashuraya > Shuraya
Aphaeresis as a poetic device
- English it is > poetic ’tis
Aphaeresis in informal speech
- Spanish está > Familiar Spanish [e]tá > ta ("is")
- English oath God's truth > Familiar Australian English exclamation strewth
See also
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Look up apheresis or aphaeresis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Crowley, Terry. (1997) An Introduction to Historical Linguistics. 3rd edition. Oxford University Press.
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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