"Diaeresis (linguistics)" redirects here. For the diacritic, see Diaeresis (diacritic).
In phonology, hiatus, diaeresis (/daɪˈɛrəsəs,-ˈɪər-/),[1] or dieresis describes the occurrence of two separate vowel sounds in adjacent syllables with no intervening consonant. When two vowel sounds instead occur together as part of a single syllable, the result is called a diphthong.
Some languages do not have diphthongs, except sometimes in rapid speech, or they have a limited number of diphthongs but also numerous vowel sequences that cannot form diphthongs and so appear in hiatus. That is the case of Japanese, Nuosu, Bantu languages like Swahili, and Lakota. Examples are Japanese aoi (青い) 'blue/green', and Swahili eua 'purify', both with three syllables.
Avoidance
Many languages disallow or restrict hiatus and avoid it by deleting or assimilating the vowel or by adding an extra consonant.
A consonant may be added between vowels (epenthesis) to prevent hiatus. That is most often a semivowel or a glottal, but all kinds of other consonants can be used as well, depending on the language and the quality of the two adjacent vowels. For example, some non-rhotic dialects of English often insert /r/ to avoid hiatus after non-high word-final or occasionally morpheme-final vowels.[2]
Contraction
In Greek and Latin poetry, hiatus is generally avoided although it occurs in many authors under certain rules, with varying degrees of poetic licence. Hiatus may be avoided by elision of a final vowel, occasionally prodelision (elision of initial vowel), synizesis (pronunciation of two vowels as one without a change in spelling), or contractions such as αει->ᾷ.
In Dutch and French, the second of two vowels in hiatus is marked with a diacritic (or tréma) if otherwise that combination could be interpreted as a diphthong or as having one of the vowels silent. Examples are the Dutch word poëzie ("poetry") and the French word ambiguë (feminine form of ambigu, "ambiguous"). This usage is occasionally seen in English (such as coöperate, daïs and reëlect) but has never been common, and over the last century, its use in such words has been dropped or replaced by the use of a hyphen except in a very few publications, notably The New Yorker.[3][4] It is, however, still common in loanwords such as naïve and Noël and in the proper names Zoë and Chloë.
Other ways
In German, hiatus between monophthongs is usually written with an intervening h, as in ziehen[ˈtsiː.ən] "to pull"; drohen[ˈdʁoː.ən] "to threaten". In a few words (such as ziehen), the h represents a consonant that has become silent, but in most cases, it was added later simply to indicate the end of the stem.
Similarly, in Scottish Gaelic, hiatus is written by a number of digraphs: bh, dh, gh, mh, th. Some examples include abhainn[ˈa.ɪɲ] "river"; latha[ˈl̪ˠa.ə] "day"; cumha[ˈkʰũ.ə] "condition". The convention goes back to the Old Irish scribal tradition, but it is more consistently applied in Scottish Gaelic: lathe (> latha). However, hiatus in Old Irish was usually simply implied in certain vowel digraphs óe (> adha), ua (> ogha).
Correption
Correption is the shortening of a long vowel before a short vowel in hiatus.
^diaeresis: December 9, 1998. The Mavens' Word of the Day. Random House.
^Umlauts in English?. General Questions. Straight Dope Message Board.
Further reading
Davidson, Lisa; Erker, Daniel (2014). "Hiatus resolution in American English: The case against glide insertion". Language. 90/2 (2): 482–514. doi:10.1353/lan.2014.0028. S2CID 50882443.
Mompean, Jose A.; Gómez, Alberto (2011). "Hiatus-resolution strategies in non-rhotic English: The case of /r/-sandhi". Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS XVII). Hong Kong: IPA/City University of Hong Kong: 770–774.
Mompean, Jose A. (2021). "/r/-sandhi in the speech of Queen Elisabeth II". Journal of the International Phonetic Association: 1–32. doi:10.1017/S0025100320000213.
January 13, 2023
vowel, hiatus, diaeresis, linguistics, redirects, here, diacritic, diaeresis, diacritic, phonology, hiatus, diaeresis, ɪər, dieresis, describes, occurrence, separate, vowel, sounds, adjacent, syllables, with, intervening, consonant, when, vowel, sounds, instea. Diaeresis linguistics redirects here For the diacritic see Diaeresis diacritic In phonology hiatus diaeresis d aɪ ˈ ɛr e s e s ˈ ɪer 1 or dieresis describes the occurrence of two separate vowel sounds in adjacent syllables with no intervening consonant When two vowel sounds instead occur together as part of a single syllable the result is called a diphthong Contents 1 Preference 2 Avoidance 2 1 Epenthesis 2 2 Contraction 3 Marking 3 1 Diaeresis 3 2 Other ways 4 Correption 5 See also 6 References 7 Further readingPreference EditSome languages do not have diphthongs except sometimes in rapid speech or they have a limited number of diphthongs but also numerous vowel sequences that cannot form diphthongs and so appear in hiatus That is the case of Japanese Nuosu Bantu languages like Swahili and Lakota Examples are Japanese aoi 青い blue green and Swahili eua purify both with three syllables Avoidance EditMany languages disallow or restrict hiatus and avoid it by deleting or assimilating the vowel or by adding an extra consonant Epenthesis Edit See also Linking and intrusive R A consonant may be added between vowels epenthesis to prevent hiatus That is most often a semivowel or a glottal but all kinds of other consonants can be used as well depending on the language and the quality of the two adjacent vowels For example some non rhotic dialects of English often insert r to avoid hiatus after non high word final or occasionally morpheme final vowels 2 Contraction Edit In Greek and Latin poetry hiatus is generally avoided although it occurs in many authors under certain rules with varying degrees of poetic licence Hiatus may be avoided by elision of a final vowel occasionally prodelision elision of initial vowel synizesis pronunciation of two vowels as one without a change in spelling or contractions such as aei gt ᾷ Marking EditDiaeresis Edit Main article Diaeresis diacritic In Dutch and French the second of two vowels in hiatus is marked with a diacritic or trema if otherwise that combination could be interpreted as a diphthong or as having one of the vowels silent Examples are the Dutch word poezie poetry and the French word ambigue feminine form of ambigu ambiguous This usage is occasionally seen in English such as cooperate dais and reelect but has never been common and over the last century its use in such words has been dropped or replaced by the use of a hyphen except in a very few publications notably The New Yorker 3 4 It is however still common in loanwords such as naive and Noel and in the proper names Zoe and Chloe Other ways Edit In German hiatus between monophthongs is usually written with an intervening h as in ziehen ˈtsiː en to pull drohen ˈdʁoː en to threaten In a few words such as ziehen the h represents a consonant that has become silent but in most cases it was added later simply to indicate the end of the stem Similarly in Scottish Gaelic hiatus is written by a number of digraphs bh dh gh mh th Some examples include abhainn ˈa ɪɲ river latha ˈl ˠa e day cumha ˈkʰũ e condition The convention goes back to the Old Irish scribal tradition but it is more consistently applied in Scottish Gaelic lathe gt latha However hiatus in Old Irish was usually simply implied in certain vowel digraphs oe gt adha ua gt ogha Correption EditCorreption is the shortening of a long vowel before a short vowel in hiatus See also EditDiphthong Synaeresis Elision Movable nuReferences Edit diaeresis Oxford English Dictionary Online ed Oxford University Press Subscription or participating institution membership required Voice and Speech in the Theatre diaeresis December 9 1998 The Mavens Word of the Day Random House Umlauts in English General Questions Straight Dope Message Board Further reading EditDavidson Lisa Erker Daniel 2014 Hiatus resolution in American English The case against glide insertion Language 90 2 2 482 514 doi 10 1353 lan 2014 0028 S2CID 50882443 Mompean Jose A Gomez Alberto 2011 Hiatus resolution strategies in non rhotic English The case of r sandhi Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences ICPhS XVII Hong Kong IPA City University of Hong Kong 770 774 Mompean Jose A 2021 r sandhi in the speech of Queen Elisabeth II Journal of the International Phonetic Association 1 32 doi 10 1017 S0025100320000213 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Vowel hiatus amp oldid 1124914868, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
