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In phonology
Phonology

Phonology is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use. Just as a language has syntax and vocabulary, it also has a phonology in the sense of a sound system....
, 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.

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



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



ous sorts of colloquial reductions might be called "syncope".






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In phonology
Phonology

Phonology is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use. Just as a language has syntax and vocabulary, it also has a phonology in the sense of a sound system....
, 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.

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 > Italian tremare "to tremble"


Syncope as a poetic device

Sounds may be removed from the interior of a word 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 in informal speech

Various sorts of colloquial reductions might be called "syncope". It is also called compression.

Forms such as "didn't" that are written with an apostrophe are, however, generally called contractions
Contraction (grammar)

In current English usage, contraction is shortening of a word, syllable, or word group by omission of internal letters.In traditional grammar, contraction can denote the formation of a new word from one word or a group of words, for example, by elision....
:

  • English [Au]stra[lia]n > colloquial Strine
    Strine

    Strine is a term coined in 1964 and subsequently used to describe a joke or made-up "language" purportedly spoken by Australians. The term is a syncope , derived from a phonetic rendition of the pronunciation of the word "Australian" in an exaggerated Australian English#Varieties of Australian English accent....
  • English go[ing t]o> gonna
  • English wa[nt t]o > wanna
  • English did n[o]t > didn't
  • English do[n't k]no[w] > dunno
  • English I [woul]d [h]ave > I'd've


See also

  • Apocope
    Apocope

    In phonology, apocope is the loss of one or more sounds from the end of a word, and especially the loss of an unstressed vowel....
  • Aphesis
    Aphesis

    In phonetics, aphaeresis , also known as aphesis , is the loss of one or more sounds from the beginning of a word, especially the loss of an unstressed vowel....
  • Clipping (lexicography)
    Clipping (lexicography)

    In linguistics, clipping is the word formation process which consists in the reduction of a word to one of its parts . Clipping is also known as "truncation" or "shortening."...
  • Clipping (phonetics)
    Clipping (phonetics)

    In phonetics, clipping is the process of shortening the articulation of a Phone , usually a vowel. A clipped vowel is pronounced more quickly than an unclipped vowel, and these clipped vowels are often also Reduced vowel....
  • Elision
    Elision

    Elision is the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce. Sometimes, sounds may be elided for euphony effect....
  • Relaxed pronunciation
    Relaxed pronunciation

    Relaxed pronunciation is a phenomenon that happens when the syllables of common words are slurred together. It is almost always present in normal speech, in all natural languages ....
  • Synalepha
    Synalepha

    A synalepha is the elision of two syllables into one.Examples:* "Apollo's priest to th'Argive fleet doth bring" Spanish and Italian use the synalepha very frequently....
  • Synaeresis
    Synaeresis

    In linguistics, synaeresis is the contraction of two vowels into a diphthong . If synaeresis is used against convention, it may serve as a rhetorical figure ....
  • Vowel reduction
    Vowel reduction

    Vowel reduction is the term in phonetics that refers to various changes in the acoustic quality of vowels, which are related to changes in stress , sonority, duration, loudness, articulation, or position in the word , and which are perceived as "weakening"....
  • Deletion
    Deletion

    selfref|For the deletion policy in Wikipedia, see...