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In phonetics, 'Aphaeresis' /əˈfɪəɹəsɪs/ (Greek ''apo'' away, ''hairein'' to take) is the loss of one or more sounds from the beginning of a word; especially, the loss of an unstressed vowel.

Contents

Aphaeresis as a historical sound change

The loss of any sound

The loss of an unstressed vowel

Aphaeresis as a poetic device

Aphaeresis in informal speech

See also

Aphaeresis as a historical sound change

In historical phonetics, the term "aphaeresis" is often but not always limited to the loss of an unstressed vowel. (The OED names gives this particular kind of aphaeresis the name "aphesis" /ʼæfɪsɪs/.)

The loss of any sound

★ English ''[k]nife'' pronounced ['naɪf]

★ German ''[St]rand'' > Finnish ''ranta'' "beach"

The loss of an unstressed vowel

★ Greek ''episkopos'' > Vulgar Latin ''[e]biscopu'' > English ''bishop''

★ English ''[a]cute'' > ''cute''

★ English ''[E]gyptian'' > ''Gyptian'' > ''Gypsy''

★ English ''[a]mend'' > ''mend''

★ English ''[e]scape'' + ''goat'' > ''scapegoat''

★ Old French ''evaniss-'' > English ''vanish''

★ English ''esquire'' > ''squire''

Aphaeresis as a poetic device

★ English ''it is'' > poetic 'tis''

Aphaeresis in informal speech

★ Spanish ''está'' > Rioplatense Spanish ''[e]tá'' > ''ta'' ("is")

★ Japanese ''kowarete [i]ru'' > ''kowarete 'ru'' "it's broken"

★ Norwegian ''[automo]bil'' > ''bil'' "car"

See also

★ Syncope

★ Apocope

★ Elision

★ List of phonetics topics