fbpx
Wikipedia

Syncope (phonology)

March 16, 2024

Not to be confused with Syncope (medicine).

In phonology, syncope (/ˈsɪŋkəpi/; from Ancient Greek: συγκοπή, romanized: sunkopḗ, lit. 'cutting up') is the loss of one or more sounds from the interior of a word, especially the loss of an unstressed vowel. It is found in both synchronic and diachronic analyses of languages. Its opposite, whereby sounds are added, is epenthesis.

Synchronic analysis edit

Synchronic analysis studies linguistic phenomena at one moment of a language's history, usually the present, in contrast to diachronic analysis, which studies a language's states and the patterns of change across a historical timeframe. In modern languages, syncope occurs in inflection, poetry, and informal speech.

Inflections edit

In languages such as Irish and Hebrew, the process of inflection can cause syncope:

  • In some verbs
imir (to play) should become *imirím (I play). However, the addition of the -ím causes syncope and the second-last syllable vowel i is lost so imirim becomes imrím.
כָּתַב (katav), (he) wrote, becomes כָּתְבוּ (katvu), (they) wrote, when the third-person plural ending ־וּ (-u) is added.
  • In some nouns
inis (island) should become *inise in the genitive case. However, instead of *Baile na hInise, road signs say, Baile na hInse (the town of the island). Once again, there is the loss of the second i.

If the present root form in Irish is the result of diachronic syncope, synchronic syncope for inflection is prevented.

As a poetic device edit

Sounds may be removed from the interior of a word as a rhetorical or poetic device: for embellishment or for the sake of the meter.

  • Latin commōverat > poetic commōrat ("he had moved")
  • English hastening > poetic hast'ning
  • English heaven > poetic heav'n
  • English over > poetic o'er
  • English ever > poetic e'er, often confused with ere ("before")

Informal speech edit

Various sorts of colloquial reductions might be called "syncope" or "compression".[1]

Contractions in English such as "didn't" or "can't" are typically cases of syncope.

Diachronic analysis edit

In historical phonology, the term "syncope" is often limited to the loss of an unstressed vowel, in effect collapsing the syllable that contained it: trisyllabic Latin calidus (stress on first syllable) develops as bisyllabic caldo in several Romance languages.

Loss of any sound edit

Loss of unstressed vowel edit

A syncope rule has been identified in Tonkawa, an extinct American Indian language in which the second vowel of a word was deleted unless it was adjacent to a consonant cluster or a final consonant.[3]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Wells, John C. (2000). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (2nd ed.). Longman. pp. 165–6. ISBN 0-582-36467-1.
  2. ^ "syncope noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com". www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Retrieved 2020-05-04. the pronunciation of library as /laɪbri/
  3. ^ Hayes, Bruce (2009). Introductory Phonology. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 255.

Sources edit

  • Cockayne, T. Oswald (1854). "On certain instances of Synkope". Transactions of the Philological Society (11).
  • Crowley, Terry (1997). An Introduction to Historical Linguistics (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-558378-7.

March 16, 2024
syncope, phonology, confused, with, syncope, medicine, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, syncope, phon. Not to be confused with Syncope medicine This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Syncope phonology news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message In phonology syncope ˈ s ɪ ŋ k e p i from Ancient Greek sygkoph romanized sunkopḗ lit cutting up is the loss of one or more sounds from the interior of a word especially the loss of an unstressed vowel It is found in both synchronic and diachronic analyses of languages Its opposite whereby sounds are added is epenthesis Contents 1 Synchronic analysis 1 1 Inflections 1 2 As a poetic device 1 3 Informal speech 2 Diachronic analysis 2 1 Loss of any sound 2 2 Loss of unstressed vowel 3 See also 4 References 5 SourcesSynchronic analysis editSynchronic analysis studies linguistic phenomena at one moment of a language s history usually the present in contrast to diachronic analysis which studies a language s states and the patterns of change across a historical timeframe In modern languages syncope occurs in inflection poetry and informal speech Inflections edit In languages such as Irish and Hebrew the process of inflection can cause syncope In some verbsimir to play should become imirim I play However the addition of the im causes syncope and the second last syllable vowel i is lost so imirim becomes imrim כ ת ב katav he wrote becomes כ ת בו katvu they wrote when the third person plural ending ו u is added In some nounsinis island should become inise in the genitive case However instead of Baile na hInise road signs say Baile na hInse the town of the island Once again there is the loss of the second i If the present root form in Irish is the result of diachronic syncope synchronic syncope for inflection is prevented As a poetic device edit Sounds may be removed from the interior of a word as a rhetorical or poetic device for embellishment or for the sake of the meter Latin commōverat gt poetic commōrat he had moved English hastening gt poetic hast ning English heaven gt poetic heav n English over gt poetic o er English ever gt poetic e er often confused with ere before Informal speech edit Various sorts of colloquial reductions might be called syncope or compression 1 Contractions in English such as didn t or can t are typically cases of syncope English Australian gt colloquial Strine pronounced s t r aɪ n English did not gt didn t pronounced ˈ d ɪ d en t English I would have gt I d ve pronounced ˈ aɪ d e v English going to gt colloquial gonna generally only when unstressed and when expressing intention rather than direction pronounced ɡ e n e or before a vowel ɡ e n u English library pronounced as l aɪ b r i 2 haplology Diachronic analysis editIn historical phonology the term syncope is often limited to the loss of an unstressed vowel in effect collapsing the syllable that contained it trisyllabic Latin calidus stress on first syllable develops as bisyllabic caldo in several Romance languages Loss of any sound edit Old English hlafweard gt hlaford gt Middle English loverd gt Modern English lord pronounced l ɔːr d English Worcester pronounced ˈ w ʊ s t e English Gloucester pronounced ˈ ɡ l ɒ s t e English Leicester pronounced ˈ l ɛ s t e English Towcester pronounced ˈ t oʊ s t e English Godmanchester pronounced ˈ ɡ ʌ m s t e archaic Loss of unstressed vowel edit Latin calidum gt Italian caldo ˈkaldo hot Latin oculum gt Italian occhio ˈɔkkjo eye Proto Norse armaʀ gt Old Norse armr arm Proto Norse bokiʀ gt Old Norse bǿkr books Proto Germanic himinōz gt Old Norse himnar heavens A syncope rule has been identified in Tonkawa an extinct American Indian language in which the second vowel of a word was deleted unless it was adjacent to a consonant cluster or a final consonant 3 See also editApheresis linguistics Apocope Clipping morphology Clipping phonetics Deletion phonology Elision Epenthesis the addition of sounds to the interior of a word Poetic contraction Synaeresis Synalepha Syncopation in music Vowel reductionReferences edit Wells John C 2000 Longman Pronunciation Dictionary 2nd ed Longman pp 165 6 ISBN 0 582 36467 1 syncope noun Definition pictures pronunciation and usage notes Oxford Advanced Learner s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries com www oxfordlearnersdictionaries com Retrieved 2020 05 04 the pronunciation of library as laɪbri Hayes Bruce 2009 Introductory Phonology Wiley Blackwell pp 255 Sources edit Cockayne T Oswald 1854 On certain instances of Synkope Transactions of the Philological Society 11 Crowley Terry 1997 An Introduction to Historical Linguistics 3rd ed New York Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 558378 7 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Syncope phonology amp oldid 1163482944, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.