Paragoge () is the addition of a sound to the end of a word. It is a type of

epenthesis In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the first syllable ('' prothesis''), the last syllable ('' paragoge''), or between two syllabic sounds in a word. The opposite process in whi ...

. Paragoge is most often linked with the

nativization Nativization is the process through which in the virtual absence of native speakers, a language undergoes new phonological, morphological, syntactical, semantic and stylistic changes, and gains new native speakers. This happens necessarily when ...

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

s. It is particularly common in

Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese (; ; also known as pt-BR) is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of Portuguese language native to Brazil. It is spoken by almost all of the 203 million inhabitants of Brazil and widely across the Brazilian diaspora ...

, not only in loanwords but also in word derivation. It is also present in the accents of many Brazilians while speaking foreign languages such as English. Some languages have undergone paragoge as a

sound change In historical linguistics, a sound change is a change in the pronunciation of a language. A sound change can involve the replacement of one speech sound (or, more generally, one phonetic feature value) by a different one (called phonetic chan ...

, and modern forms are longer than the historical forms they are derived from. Italian ''sono'' 'I am', from Latin ''sum'', is an example. Sometimes, as above, the paragogic vowel is an echo vowel, such as

Proto-Oceanic Proto-Oceanic (abbreviated as POc) is a proto-language that comparative linguistics, historical linguists since Otto Dempwolff have reconstructed as the hypothetical common ancestor of the Oceanic languages, Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian ...

''*saqat'' "bad" > Uneapa ''zaɣata''.

Etymology

The word ''paragoge'' is taken from 'deviation; language alteration': from παρα-

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the word to which it is affixed. Prefixes, like other affixes, can b ...

''para-'' 'beside' and ἀγωγή ''agogē'' 'bringing in'.

In loanwords

Some languages add a sound to the end of a

when it would otherwise end in a forbidden sound. Some languages add a grammatical ending to the end of a loanword to make it declinable.

Examples

*English ''rack'' → Finnish ; *English ''gal'' → Japanese ('' gyaru''); *English ''golf'' → Portuguese

Grammatical endings

*English ''

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

'' → Latvian ; *

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

('' rakı'') > South Slavic '' rakia;'' *English '' chips'' → Polish ''chipsy'' (alt. ''czipsy'') — the -''y'' is added to make it a regular plural in Polish due to declension (the word turns into double plural); *Polish ''

pierogi Pierogi ( ; ) are filled dumplings made by wrapping Leavening, unleavened dough around a Stuffing, filling and cooked in boiling water. They are occasionally flavored with a savory or sweet garnish. Typical fillings include potato, cheese, ...

(pl.)'' → English ''pierogis'' — the -''s'' is added to indicate plurality, due to the common misconception that ''pierogi'' is a singular form (double plural).

In inherited words

Paragoge can occur in the inherited words of a language as well. This is the case with many words in

Romance languages The Romance languages, also known as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages, are the languages that are Language family, directly descended from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-E ...

and

Austronesian languages The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken ...

Examples

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

→ Italian *

''fine'' → Catalan ''fins'' *

''*saqat'' "bad" → ''*saqati'' → Tamambo ''sati'' * Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ''*bayaD'' "pay" → Proto-South Sulawesi ''*bayar'' → Makassarese ''báyaraʔ'' *

Proto-Austronesian Proto-Austronesian (commonly abbreviated as PAN or PAn) is a proto-language. It is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. Proto-Austronesian is assumed to have begun to diversify in ...

''*bəsuʀ'' "satiated" → Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ''*bəsuʀ''→ Proto-South Sulawesi ''*bəssuʀ'' → Makassarese ''bássoroʔ''

References

# List of Paragoge word
List

Sources

*Crowley, Terry (1997): ''An Introduction to Historical Linguistics.'' 3rd edition. Oxford University Press. *Sorbet, Piotr (2019): "El mecanismo de paragoge". In: LÓPEZ GONZÁLEZ, Antonio María, KOBYŁECKA-PIWOŃSKA, Ewa, KŁOSIŃSKA-NACHIN, Agnieszka, BARAN, Marek (eds.): ''Voces dialogantes'', Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, 375-384. Phonology {{phonology-stub