Synaeresis

synaeresis or syneresis [sin‐eer‐ĭsis], a form of contraction or elision in which two adjacent vowel sounds are run together into a single diphthong or vowel: thus ‘the effect’ becomes th'effect, and ‘seëst’ becomes seest. The device is used in poetry for the sake of conformity to the metre, especially in syllabic and accentual‐syllabic verse. A distinction is sometimes made between synaeresis, which creates diphthongs, and sinizesis, which creates simple vowels. See also diaeresis, syncope.

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: the contraction of two vowels into a diphthong
  Synonym: syneresis

Meaning #2: the separation of liquid from a gel that is caused by contraction (as in cheese making)
  Synonym: syneresis

This article is about synaeresis in linguistics. For syneresis in chemistry, see syneresis (chemistry).

In linguistics, synæresis, synaeresis, or syneresis is the contraction of two vowels into a diphthong (or long vowel). If synæresis is used against convention, it may serve as a rhetorical figure (a metaplasm). The opposite phenomenon is known as diæresis.

The word comes from Greek συναίρεσις and the original transliteration in English used the æ grapheme, which was later simplified into the ae digraph in British English and the e letter in North American English.

In historical linguistics, such contractions often result after the regular loss of a consonant that used to separate the two vowels. In this case, the resulting vowel or diphthong will typically carry a circumflex intonation.

See also

• Synalepha
• Contraction (grammar)
• Diæresis
• Crasis

This linguistics article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)