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In
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...
, 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 pronounced separately, is known as " diaeresis". For any given word, speakers generally hold a traditional view about the ''standard'' pronunciation of that word. When realized in a careful reading style, each particular word is associated with this single, ''standard'' phonetic form. However, each word also possesses multiple non-standard or reduced phonetic forms which are produced in a greater range of contexts. These multiple variations in the pronunciation of a single word are referred to as allophonic variants. To classify one of these other forms as an allophonic variant of a word means that pronouncing the word in this way will not change the intended meaning of the word. Synaeresis is one of various phonological processes in which segments of words or phrases are lost. The general term for a loss of sound segments in the field of linguistics is known as "
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 ...
". Other types of elision include the processes of apheresis, syncope,
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 ...
, synizesis, and synaloepha.


Etymology

Synaeresis comes from Greek (''synaíresis''), a "contraction", a "taking ''or'' drawing together", from (''synairéō''), "(I) contract", "(I) grasp ''or'' seize together", derived from , "with", and , "(I) grasp, seize". Semantically, it is easy to understand how this term evolved historically. The term eventually becamer applied to a process in which vowels are taken or drawn together.


English

Synaeresis often occurs with
reduced vowel 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 pe ...
s in
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
, as in
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
( → ) and Sebastian ( → ).


French

Synaeresis is a common process in
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
. For example, the French word ''louer,'' which means ‘to praise,’ is typically pronounced as weaccording to transcriptions using the
International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation ...
. That pronunciation reduces the vowel to a or a glide sound, when pronounced in conjunction with the vowel sound. In this example, the standard pronunciation uses the process of synaeresis to compress both of the original vowel sounds into one syllable. However, when speakers are asked to produce this word in a more controlled situation, in a careful reading style, French speakers often produce extended forms or different allophonic variants for the word. These forms of the word include ueaccording to IPA transcriptions, in which the two vowels are pronounced separately using the process of diaeresis.


Greek


Ancient Greek

In
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
, synaeresis is the merging and pronunciation of two separate vowels as a
diphthong A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech ...
(e.g. α + ι → αι ) or a
long vowel In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, ...
(e.g. ο + ο → ου ); a characteristic example of this is the
conjugation Conjugation or conjugate may refer to: Linguistics *Grammatical conjugation, the modification of a verb from its basic form * Emotive conjugation or Russell's conjugation, the use of loaded language Mathematics *Complex conjugation, the change ...
class or classes of contracted verbs ( grc-gre, συνῃρημένα – or ). Diaeresis, on the other hand, is the separation of a diphthong into two vowels (αϊ ). Certain words in Proto-Indo-European had two vowels separated by the consonant ''s'' or ''y'' (''esu'' "good"). In Greek, this consonant changed to ''h'' (''ehu''), and was lost between vowels (''eu''). In
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
, the two vowels were sometimes pronounced separately (diaeresis: ) and sometimes together (synaeresis: ). Later in
Attic Greek Attic Greek is the Greek dialect of the ancient region of Attica, including the '' polis'' of Athens. Often called classical Greek, it was the prestige dialect of the Greek world for centuries and remains the standard form of the language that ...
, they were always pronounced together. In Greek synaeresis, two vowels merge to form a long version of one of the two vowels (e.g. ''e'' + ''a'' → ''ā''), a diphthong with a different main vowel (e.g. ''a'' + ''ei'' → ''āi''), or a new vowel intermediate between the originals (e.g. ''a'' + ''o'' → ''ō''). Contraction of ''e'' + ''o'' or ''o'' + ''e'' leads to ''ou'', and ''e'' + ''e'' to ''ei'', which are in this case spurious diphthongs. In general, the accent after contraction copies the accent before contraction. Often this means circumflex accent. But for nouns, accent follows the nominative singular. Sometimes this means a different accent from the uncontracted form — i.e., whenever the ending has a long vowel. Contraction in Greek occurs throughout the present and imperfect of contracted verbs and in the future of other verbs. There are three categories based on the vowel of contraction: ''a'', ''e'', or ''o''.


Verbs


Nouns

Contraction also occurs in nouns, including the contracted second declension. ''S''-stem nouns undergo contraction with vowel endings. Some compound nouns show contraction: * → "
liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
"


Modern Greek

In Modern Greek, where original diphthongs are pronounced as monophthongs, synaeresis is the pronunciation of two vowel sounds as a
monophthong A monophthong ( ; , ) is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation. The monophthongs can be contrasted with diphthongs, wh ...
, and diaeresis is the pronunciation of the two vowels as a diphthong (αϊ ).


See also

* Diaeresis * Metaplasm ** Synalepha ***
Crasis Crasis (; from the Greek , "mixing", "blending"); cf. , "I mix" ''wine with water''; '' kratēr'' "mixing-bowl" is related. is a type of contraction in which two vowels or diphthongs merge into one new vowel or diphthong, making one word out of ...
***
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 ...
****
Contraction Contraction may refer to: Linguistics * Contraction (grammar), a shortened word * Poetic contraction, omission of letters for poetic reasons * Elision, omission of sounds ** Syncope (phonology), omission of sounds in a word * Synalepha, merged ...
*** Synizesis * Smoothing (phonetics)


Notes and references


Notes


References

{{Reflist Figures of speech Phonetics Poetic devices