poetic 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 meanings in a ...

meter, diaeresis ( or , also spelled diæresis or dieresis) has two meanings: the separate pronunciation of the two

vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...

s in a diphthong for the sake of

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

, and a division between

feet The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

that corresponds to the division between words.

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 ...

, the pronunciation of two vowels as a diphthong (or as a long vowel), is the opposite of the first definition.

Etymology

Diaeresis comes from the

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 p ...

noun ''diaíresis'' (διαίρεσις) "taking apart" or "division" (also "distinction"), from the verb ''diairéō'' (διαιρέω) "take apart", a

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

of the verb ''airéō'' (αἱρέω) "take" and the preposition ''diá'' (διά) "through" (in compounds, "apart").

French

In the

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 ...

Standard French Standard French (in French: ''le français standard'', ''le français normé'', ''le français neutre'' eutral Frenchor ''le français international'' nternational French is an unofficial term for a standard variety of the French language. It ...

, the letters ''ie'' are normally pronounced or except after ''Cr'' or ''Cl'', when they indicate two syllables, or . (That exception came into the language only around the 17th century, as can be seen in poems before then.) In some French dialects, however, diaeresis is the norm, with the two-syllable pronunciation found after any consonant. In Standard French, the pronunciation of ''hier'' (yesterday) varies between the two, or , depending on the context.

Greek

Diaeresis as separate pronunciation of vowels in a diphthong was first named where it occurred in the poetry of

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 ...

Example

*ἀλλά μοι ἀμφ᾿ Ὀδυσῆϊ δαΐφρονι δαίεται ῆτορ...
But my soul is torn about Odysseus the fiery-hearted... *: In this example, diaereses are in bold. The vowels in each diaeresis are placed in separate syllables when the line is scanned: *ΑΛ λα μοι , ΑΜ φο δυ , ΣΗ ι δα , ΙΦ ρο νι , ΔΑΙ ε ται , Η ΤΟΡ

Dactylic hexameter Dactylic hexameter (also known as heroic hexameter and the meter of epic) is a form of meter or rhythmic scheme frequently used in Ancient Greek and Latin poetry. The scheme of the hexameter is usually as follows (writing – for a long syllable ...

depends on the sequence of long and short (or heavy and light) syllables. It is composed of six

, five of which are in two basic patterns: long–short–short ( dactyl) or long–long ( spondee). In the scansion of the line above, long syllables are uppercase, short syllables are lowercase, and feet are divided by a vertical line. All feet in the line conform to one of the two patterns of dactylic hexameter. If the pairs of vowels are contracted into diphthongs by

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 ...

(i.e., Ὀδυσῇ δαίφρονι) and the diphthongs are placed in one syllable each, one foot (in ) no longer follows the patterns, no matter how the line is scanned: *ΑΛ λα μοι , ΑΜ φο δυ , , ΔΑΙΦ ρο νι , ΔΑΙ ε ται , Η ΤΟΡ *ΑΛ λα μοι , ΑΜ φο δυ , ΣΗΙ ΔΑΙΦ , , ΔΑΙ ε ται , Η ΤΟΡ

Εὖ

In Homer, compounds beginning with ἐύ- (also spelled ἐΰ-, with a diaeresis or trema) frequently contain two separate vowels (diaeresis). In later Greek, the two vowels form a diphthong (synaeresis). The word comes from εὖ "well", the

adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...

ial use of the neuter

accusative The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘th ...

singular of the adjective ἐύς "good". The form with diaeresis is the original form, since the word comes from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...

' (''e''-grade of

ablaut In linguistics, the Indo-European ablaut (, from German '' Ablaut'' ) is a system of apophony (regular vowel variations) in the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE). An example of ablaut in English is the strong verb ''sing, sang, sung'' and its ...

), which is cognate with

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

''su-'' (zero-grade). In

Proto-Greek The Proto-Greek language (also known as Proto-Hellenic) is the Indo-European language which was the last common ancestor of all varieties of Greek, including Mycenaean Greek, the subsequent ancient Greek dialects (i.e., Attic, Ionic, Aeo ...

, ''s'' between vowels became ''h'' (

debuccalization Debuccalization or deoralization is a sound change or alternation in which an oral consonant loses its original place of articulation and moves it to the glottis (usually , , or ). The pronunciation of a consonant as is sometimes called aspir ...

), and later was lost.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaeresis (Prosody) Poetic devices Vowels Poetic rhythm sv:Trema#Avskiljande funktion: dieresis

Etymology

French

Greek

Example

Εὖ

See also

References