Discover

In phonetics, 'syncope' (Greek ''syn-'' + ''kopein'' “to strike”) is the loss of one or more sounds from the interior of a word; especially, the loss of an unstressed vowel.

Contents

Syncope as a historical sound change

The loss of any sound

The loss of an unstressed vowel

Syncope as a poetic device

Syncope in informal speech

See also

Syncope as a historical sound change

In historical phonetics, the term "syncope" is often but not always limited to the loss of an unstressed vowel:

The loss of any sound

★ Old English ''hláford'' > English ''lord''

★ English ''Worcester'', pronounced

★ English ''Gloucester'', pronounced

The loss of an unstressed vowel

★ Latin ''cál[i]dum'' > Italian ''caldo'' "hot"

★ Latin ''óc[u]lum'' > Italian ''occhio'' "eye"

★ Latin ''trem[u]láre'' > French ''trembler'' "to tremble"

Syncope as a poetic device

Sounds may be removed from the interior of a word may be as a rhetoric or poetic device, whether for embellishment or for the sake of the meter.

★ Latin ''commo[ve]rat'' > poetic ''commorat'' ("he had moved")

★ English ''hast[e]ning'' > poetic ''hast'ning''

★ English ''heav[e]n'' > poetic ''heav'n''

★ English ''over'' > poetic ''o'er''
Syncope: passing out or fainting; common syptom of dysautonomia

Syncope in informal speech

Various sorts of colloquial reductions might be called "syncope". Forms such as "didn't" that are written with an apostrophe are, however, generally called contractions:

★ English ''[Au]stra[lia]n'' > colloquial ''Strine''

★ English ''go[ing t]o''> ''gonna''

★ English ''wa[nt t]o'' > ''wanna''

★ English ''did n[o]t'' > ''didn't''

★ English ''I [woul]d [h]ave'' > ''I'd've''

See also

★ Apocope

★ Apheresis

★ Synalepha

★ Clipping

★ Synaeresis