In
phonology
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
, syncope (; from grc, , , cutting up) is the loss of one or more sounds from the interior of a word, especially the loss of an unstressed vowel. It is found in both
synchronic and diachronic analyses of languages. Its opposite, whereby sounds are added, is
epenthesis
In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the beginning syllable ('' prothesis'') or in the ending syllable (''paragoge'') or in-between two syllabic sounds in a word. The word ''epent ...
.
Synchronic analysis
Synchronic analysis studies linguistic phenomena at one moment of a language's history, usually the present, in contrast to diachronic analysis, which studies a language's states and the patterns of change across a historical timeframe. In modern languages, syncope occurs in
inflection
In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and ...
,
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...
, and informal speech.
Inflections
In languages such as
Irish and
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, the process of
inflection
In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and ...
can cause syncope:
* In some verbs
: (to play) should become * (I play). However, the addition of the causes syncope and the second-last syllable vowel is lost so becomes .
: (katav), (he) wrote, becomes (katvu), (they) wrote, when the third-person plural ending (-u) is added.
* In some nouns
: (island) should become * in the
genitive case
In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can a ...
. However, instead of *, road signs say, (the town of the island). Once again, there is the loss of the second .
If the present root form in Irish is the result of diachronic syncope, synchronic syncope for
inflection
In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and ...
is prevented.
As a poetic device
Sounds may be removed from the interior of a word as a rhetorical or poetic device: for embellishment or for the sake of the meter.
* Latin > poetic ("he had moved")
* English ''hastening'' > poetic ''hast'ning''
* English ''heaven'' > poetic ''heav'n''
* English ''over'' > poetic ''o'er''
* English ''ever'' > poetic ''e'er'', often confused with ''ere'' ("before")
Informal speech
Various sorts of colloquial reductions might be called "syncope" or "compression".
Contractions in English such as "didn't" or "can't" are typically cases of syncope.
* English ''Australian'' > colloquial ''
Strine'', pronounced
* English ''did not'' > ''didn't'', pronounced
* English ''I would have'' > ''I'd've'', pronounced
* English ''going to'' > colloquial ''
gonna'' (generally only when unstressed and when expressing intention rather than direction), pronounced or, before a vowel,
* English ''every'' pronounced
�ɛvɹi*English ''library'' pronounced as (
haplology)
Diachronic analysis
In historical phonology, the term "syncope" is often limited to the loss of an unstressed vowel, in effect collapsing the syllable that contained it: trisyllabic Latin ''calidus'' (stress on first syllable) develops as bisyllabic ''caldo'' in several Romance languages.
Loss of any sound
* Old English > > Middle English > Modern English ''lord'', pronounced
* English ''
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
'', pronounced
* English ''
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east o ...
'', pronounced
* English ''
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
'', pronounced
* English ''
Towcester
Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council.
Towcester is one of the olde ...
'', pronounced
* English ''
Godmanchester
Godmanchester ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is separated from Huntingdon, to the north, by the valley of the River Great Ouse. Being on the Roman road network, the town has a lo ...
'', pronounced (archaic)
Loss of unstressed vowel
* Latin > Italian "hot"
* Latin > Italian "eye"
*
Proto-Norse
Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic, Ancient Scandinavian, Ancient Norse, Primitive Norse, Proto-Nordic, Proto-Scandinavian and Proto-North Germanic) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as ...
>
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
"arm"
* Proto-Norse > Old Norse "books"
*
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic br ...
' > Old Norse "heavens"
A syncope rule has been identified in
Tonkawa
The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe indigenous to present-day Oklahoma. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct, is a linguistic isolate.
Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the federally recognized Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. ...
, an extinct American Indian language in which the second vowel of a word was deleted unless it was adjacent to a consonant cluster or a final consonant.
See also
*
Apheresis (linguistics)
In phonetics and phonology, apheresis (; en-GB, aphaeresis) is the loss of a word-initial vowel producing a new form called aphetism (e.g. ''American'' > '' 'Merican''). In a broader sense, it can refer to the loss of any initial sound (includ ...
*
Apocope
In phonology, apocope () is the loss ( elision) of a word-final vowel. In a broader sense, it can refer to the loss of any final sound (including consonants) from a word.
Etymology
''Apocope'' comes from the Greek () from () "cutting off", fro ...
*
Clipping (morphology)
In linguistics, clipping, also called truncation or shortening, is word formation by removing some segments of an existing word to create a synonym. Clipping differs from abbreviation, which is based on a shortening of the written, rather tha ...
*
Clipping (phonetics)
In phonetics, clipping is the process of shortening the articulation of a phonetic segment, usually a vowel. A clipped vowel is pronounced more quickly than an unclipped vowel and is often also reduced.
Examples
Dutch
Particularly in Netherl ...
*
Deletion (phonology)
In linguistics, an elision or deletion is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase. However, these terms are also used to refer more narrowly to cases where two words are run tog ...
*
Elision
In linguistics, an elision or deletion is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase. However, these terms are also used to refer more narrowly to cases where two words are run toget ...
*
Epenthesis
In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the beginning syllable ('' prothesis'') or in the ending syllable (''paragoge'') or in-between two syllabic sounds in a word. The word ''epent ...
, the ''addition'' of sounds to the interior of a word
*
Poetic contraction
Poetic contractions are contractions of words found in poetry but not commonly used in everyday modern English. Also known as elision or syncope, these contractions are usually used to lower the number of syllables in a particular word in order ...
*
Synaeresis
In linguistics, synaeresis (; also spelled syneresis) is a phonological process of sound change in which two adjacent vowels within a word are ''combined'' into a single syllable.
The opposite process, in which two adjacent vowels are pronounce ...
*
Synalepha
A synalepha or synaloepha is the merging of two syllables into one, especially when it causes two words to be pronounced as one.
The original meaning in Ancient Greek is more general than modern usage and includes coalescence of vowels within a ...
*
Syncopation
In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...
in music
*
Vowel reduction
In phonetics, vowel reduction is any of various changes in the acoustic ''quality'' of vowels as a result of changes in stress, sonority, duration, loudness, articulation, or position in the word (e.g. for the Creek language), and which are per ...
References
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Figures of speech
Phonology
Prosody (linguistics)