Epenthesis
Template:Short description Template:More footnotes needed Template:Sound change Template:IPA notice
In phonology, epenthesis (Template:IPAc-en; Greek Template:Wikt-lang) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the first syllable (prothesis), the last syllable (paragoge), or between two syllabic sounds in a word. The opposite process in which one or more sounds are removed is referred to as syncope or elision.<ref name = "Kim2024">Template:Cite book </ref>
Etymology
The word epenthesis comes from Template:Wikt-lang Template:Gloss and en- Template:Gloss and thesis Template:Gloss. Epenthesis may be divided into two types: excrescence for the addition of a consonant, and for the addition of a vowel, svarabhakti (in Sanskrit) or alternatively anaptyxis (Template:IPAc-en).
Uses
Epenthesis arises for a variety of reasons. The phonotactics of a given language may discourage vowels in hiatus or consonant clusters, and a consonant or vowel may be added to help pronunciation. Epenthesis may be represented in writing, or it may be a feature only of the spoken language.
Separating vowels
A consonant may be added to separate vowels in hiatus, as is the case with linking and intrusive R in English.
- drawing → draw-r-ing
Bridging consonant clusters
A consonant may be placed between consonants in a consonant cluster where the place of articulation is different (such as if one consonant is labial and the other is alveolar).
Breaking consonant clusters
A vowel may be placed between consonants to separate them.
- Hamtramck → Hamtramick
Other contexts
While epenthesis most often occurs between two vowels or two consonants, it can also occur between a vowel and a consonant or at the ends of words. For example, the Japanese prefix Template:Nihongo transforms regularly to Template:Nihongo when it is followed by a consonant, as in Template:Nihongo. The English suffix Template:Wikt-lang, often found in the form Template:Wikt-lang, as in Template:Wikt-lang (from Template:Wikt-lang + Template:Wikt-lang), is an example of terminal excrescence.
Excrescence
Template:See alsoExcrescence is the epenthesis of a consonant.
Historical sound change
- Latin Template:Lang > French Template:Lang (Template:Gloss)
- Old English Template:Lang > English thunder
- French Template:Lang, Template:Lang > English messenger, passenger
- French Template:Lang, Template:Lang > Portuguese Template:Lang, Template:Lang
- (Reconstructed) Proto-Germanic Template:Wikt-lang > Old English Template:Wikt-lang, Old Saxon Template:Lang (Template:Gloss)
- Template:Anchor(Reconstructed) Proto-Greek Template:Lang > Ancient Greek Template:Wikt-lang Template:Grc-transl (Template:Gloss; cf. ambrosia)
- Latin Template:Lang > homne > homre > Spanish Template:Lang (Template:Gloss)
- Latin Template:Lang > ouir > Portuguese Template:Lang (Template:Gloss)
Synchronic rule
In French, Template:Lang Template:IPA is inserted between an inverted subject and verb, when the verb ends in a vowel and the subject is a pronoun beginning with a vowel: Template:Lang ('he has') > Template:Lang ('has he'); Template:Lang ('she exclaimed') > Template:Lang ('exclaimed she'). There is no epenthesis from a historical perspective since the Template:Lang is derived from Latin Template:Lang ('he has'), and so the Template:Lang is the original third-person verb inflection. It is incorrect to call it epenthesis unless it is viewed synchronically since the modern basic form of the verb is Template:Lang and so the psycholinguistic process is the addition of Template:Lang to the base form.
A similar example is the English indefinite article a, which becomes an before a vowel. It originated from Old English Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Gloss), which retained an n in all positions, so a diachronic analysis would see the original n disappearing except if a following vowel required its retention: an > a. However, a synchronic analysis, in keeping with the perception of most native speakers, would (though incorrectly) see it as epenthesis: a > an.
In Dutch, whenever the suffix Template:Wikt-lang (which has several meanings) is attached to a word already ending in -r, an additional Template:Lang is inserted in between. For example, the comparative form of the adjective Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Gloss) is Template:Wikt-lang, but the comparative of Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Gloss) is Template:Wikt-lang and not the expected **Template:Lang. Similarly, the agent noun of Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Gloss) is Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Gloss), but the agent noun of Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Gloss) is Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Gloss).
Variable rule
Template:Further In English, a stop consonant is often added as a transitional sound between the parts of a nasal + fricative sequence:
- English hamster Template:IPAc-en often pronounced with an added p sound, GA: Template:IPA or RP: Template:IPA
- English warmth Template:IPAc-en often pronounced with an added p sound, GA: Template:IPA or RP: Template:IPA
- English fence Template:IPAc-en often pronounced Template:IPA
Poetic device
- Latin Template:Lang Template:Gloss (accusative plural) > poetic Template:Lang
The three short syllables in Template:Lang do not fit into dactylic hexameter because of the dactyl's limit of two short syllables so the first syllable is lengthened by adding another l. However, the pronunciation was often not written with double ll, and may have been the normal way of pronouncing a word starting in rel- rather than a poetic modification.
In Japanese
A limited number of words in Japanese use epenthetic consonants to separate vowels. An example is the word Template:Nihongo, a compound of Template:Lang and Template:Lang in which an Template:IPA is added to separate the final Template:IPA of Template:Lang and the initial Template:IPA of Template:Lang. That is a synchronic analysis, looking just at the modern language.
As for a diachronic analysis, looking at historical change, this epenthetic Template:IPA only appears in a small number of compounds coined mostly in Old Japanese, and only applying to a handful of words used as the second element in such compounds. For examples like Template:Nihongo, Template:Nihongo, and Template:Nihongo, one possibility is that Old Japanese /ame2/ was once pronounced */same2/; the Template:IPA appearing in these compounds would then be not epenthetic but simply an archaic pronunciation. This is the case for the apparent (but not actually) (second) epenthetic Template:IPA in Template:Nihongo, which is instead from Old Japanese Template:Nihongo, from the intensifier Template:Nihongo plus merging of the Template:IPA in sa- and the following Template:IPA in awo (Template:Slink).
Anaptyxis
Epenthesis of a vowel is known as anaptyxis (Template:IPAc-en, from Greek Template:Lang Template:Gloss). Some accounts distinguish between "intrusive" optional vowels, vowel-like releases of consonants as phonetic detail, and true epenthetic vowels that are required by the phonotactics of the language and are acoustically identical with phonemic vowels.
Historical sound change
End of word
Many languages insert a so-called prop vowel at the end of a word, often as a result of the common sound change where vowels at the end of a word are deleted. For example, in the Gallo-Romance languages, a prop schwa Template:IPA was added when final non-open vowels were dropped leaving Template:IPA clusters at the end, e.g., Latin Template:Lang '(shiny) black' > *Template:IPA > Old French Template:Lang Template:IPA 'black' (thus avoiding the impermissible Template:IPA, cf. Template:Lang > Template:Lang 'cart').
Middle of word
Similarly as above, a vowel may be inserted in the middle of a word to resolve an impermissible word-final consonant cluster. An example of this can be found in Lebanese Arabic, where Template:IPA 'heart' corresponds to Modern Standard Arabic Template:Lang Template:IPA and Egyptian Arabic Template:IPA. In the development of Old English, Proto-Germanic Template:Wikt-lang 'field, acre' would have ended up with an impermissible Template:IPA final cluster (Template:Lang), so it was resolved by inserting an Template:IPA before the rhotic consonant: Template:Wikt-lang (cf. the use of a syllabic consonant in Gothic Template:Wikt-lang).
Vowel insertion in the middle of a word can be observed in the history of the Slavic languages, which had a preference for open syllables in medieval times. An example of this is the Proto-Slavic form Template:Lang 'town', in which the East Slavic languages inserted an epenthetic copy vowel to open the closed syllable, resulting in Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration), which became Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Transliteration) in modern Russian and Ukrainian. Other Slavic languages used metathesis for the vowel and the syllable-final consonant, producing *grodŭ in this case, as seen in Polish Template:Lang, Old Church Slavonic Template:Lang Template:Lang, Serbo-Croatian Template:Lang and Czech Template:Lang.
In many West Germanic language varieties (such as Dutch (including local Brabantian and Hollandic dialects), Limburgish, Luxembourgish and Ripuarian), a phonetic Template:IPA is inserted between Template:IPA or Template:IPA and labial or velar Template:IPA (also Template:IPA, in the case of the preceding Template:IPA). This leads to Dutch Template:Lang 'calm' being pronounced Template:IPA, Limburgish Template:Lang 'apron' being pronounced Template:IPA, Luxembourgish Template:Lang 'people' being pronounced Template:IPA (from Old High German Template:Lang, a monosyllable) and Ripuarian Template:Lang 'village' being pronounced Template:IPA. The city names Bergen op Zoom and Utrecht as pronounced by locals can be spelled Berrege and Utereg in eye dialect. The exact details vary depending on the language and dialect, with some dialects (such as many dialects of Limburgish) permitting the addition across syllable boundaries (but not morpheme boundaries) and others restricting it to the syllable coda (such as Standard Dutch). This unetymological schwa is never written in Standard Dutch, but is usually written in Luxembourgish. In Limburgish and Ripuarian, the practices vary as there is not one standard orthography.
Dialects with both types of anaptyxis regularize the schwa-insertion, making it phonemic: Template:IPA, Template:IPA, etc. comparably to the GOAT split in London English (except that no new phoneme is created, as Template:IPA already exists in Dutch as a phoneme). In those dialects, schwa insertion also occurs between Template:IPA or Template:IPA on the one hand and Template:IPA or Template:IPA on the other. Most speakers with a hard G do not have Template:IPA as a phoneme in their system; thus, broad Amsterdam and Utrecht pronunciations of balgen and bergen are Template:IPA, Template:IPA, with no change in the voicing of the fricative. Template:IPA and Template:IPA are markedly southern (Brabantian/Limburgish-influenced) dialectal pronunciations. Anaptyxis does not occur across morpheme boundaries, so that while the surname Template:Lang can be pronounced Template:IPA, the noun/verb Template:Lang Template:IPA 'intention', 'to intend' is never pronounced *Template:IPA.
In Irish English (another West Germanic variety), anaptyxis famously occurs in words such as 'film' Template:IPA, spelled 'fillum' in eye dialect.
Another environment can be observed in the history of Modern Persian, in which former word-initial consonant clusters, which were still extant in Middle Persian, are regularly broken up: Middle Persian Template:Lang 'brother' > modern Iranian Persian Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:IPA, Middle Persian Template:Lang 'column' > Early New Persian Template:Lang Template:Transliteration > modern Iranian Persian Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:IPA.
In Spanish, as a phonetic detail, it is usual to find a schwa vowel in sequences of a consonant followed by a flap. For instance, Template:Lang 'vinegar' may be Template:IPA but also Template:IPA. Template:Citation needed
Many Indo-Aryan languages carry an inherent vowel after each consonant. For example, in Assamese, the inherent vowel is "o" (Template:Lang), while in Hindi and Marathi, it is "a" (Template:Lang). Sanskrit words like Template:Lang (Template:Gloss, Template:Lang), Template:Lang (Template:Gloss, Template:Lang), Template:Lang (Template:Gloss, Template:Lang), Template:Lang (Template:Gloss, Template:Lang), Template:Lang (Template:Gloss, Template:Lang), Template:Lang (Template:Gloss, Template:Lang) etc. become Template:Lang (Template:Lang > Template:Lang), Template:Lang (Template:Lang > Template:Lang), Template:Lang (Template:Lang > Template:Lang), Template:Lang (Template:Lang > Template:Lang), Template:Lang (Template:Lang > Template:Lang), Template:Lang (Template:Lang > Template:Lang) etc. in Assamese.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Other, non-Tatsama words also undergo anaptyxis, for example, the English word glass becomes Template:Lang (Template:Lang).
Beginning of word
In the Western Romance languages, a prothetic vowel was inserted at the beginning of any word that began with Template:IPA and another consonant, e.g. Latin Template:Lang 'two-edged sword, typically used by cavalry' becomes the normal word for 'sword' in Romance languages with an inserted Template:IPA: Spanish/Portuguese Template:Lang, Catalan Template:Lang, Old French Template:Lang > modern Template:Lang (see also Template:Wikt-lang 'swordfish').
French in fact presents three layers in the vocabulary in which initial vowel epenthesis is or is not applied, depending on the time a word came into the language:
- insertion of epenthetic Template:IPA in inherited and commonly used learned and semi-learned words, which then drop the following Template:IPA after the medieval period: Latin Template:Lang > Old French Template:Lang > modern Template:Lang 'star', Template:Lang > Old French Template:Lang > modern Template:Lang 'study', Template:Lang > OF Template:Lang > modern Template:Lang 'school'
- insertion of Template:IPA and keeping Template:IPA in learned words borrowed during the Middle Ages or the Renaissance: Template:Lang > Template:Lang, Template:Lang > Template:Lang
- then in the modern period, Template:IPA is not inserted and uncommon old learned borrowings are remolded to look more like Latin: Template:Lang > Template:Lang, Template:Lang > Template:Lang, Template:Lang > learned Old French Template:Lang > remolded to modern Template:Lang
Similarly, at some point in the Proto-Armenian language and Classical Armenian, the prothetic vowel Template:Lang was placed at the beginning of the word before the sound Template:Lang, leading to words like Template:Lang (Template:Gloss, Template:Lang) from Iranian Template:Lang (Template:Gloss), or Template:Lang (Template:Gloss, Template:Lang) from Iranian Template:Lang (Template:Gloss).
Grammatical rule
Epenthesis often breaks up a consonant cluster or vowel sequence that is not permitted by the phonotactics of a language. Regular or semi-regular epenthesis commonly occurs in languages with affixes. For example, a reduced vowel Template:IPA or Template:IPA (here abbreviated as Template:IPA) is inserted before the English plural suffix Template:IPA and the past tense suffix Template:IPA when the root ends in a similar consonant: glass → glasses Template:IPA or Template:IPA; bat → batted Template:IPA. However, this is a synchronic analysis as the vowel was originally present in the suffix but has been lost in most words.
Borrowed words
Vocalic epenthesis typically occurs when words are borrowed from a language that has consonant clusters or syllable codas that are not permitted in the borrowing language.
Languages use various vowels, but schwa is quite common when it is available:
- Hebrew uses a single vowel, the schwa (pronounced Template:IPA in Israeli Hebrew).Template:Citation needed
- Japanese generally uses Template:IPA except after Template:IPA and Template:IPA, when it uses Template:IPA, and after Template:IPA, when it uses an echo vowel. For example, English cap becomes Template:Lang Template:IPA in Japanese; English street, Template:Lang Template:IPA; the Dutch name Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:IPA; and the German name Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:IPA.Template:Citation needed
- Korean uses Template:IPA in most cases. Template:IPA is used after borrowed Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, or Template:IPA, although Template:IPA may also be used after borrowed Template:IPA depending on the source language. Template:IPA is used when Template:IPA is followed by a consonant or when a syllable ends with Template:IPA. For example, English strike becomes Template:Lang Template:IPA, with three epenthetic Template:IPA vowels and a split of English diphthong Template:IPAc-en into two syllables.Template:Citation needed
- Brazilian Portuguese uses Template:IPA, which, in most dialects, triggers palatalization of a preceding Template:IPA or Template:IPA: nerd > Template:IPA; stress > Template:IPA; McDonald's > Template:IPA with normal vocalization of Template:IPA to Template:IPA. Most speakers pronounce borrowings with spelling pronunciations, and others try to approximate the nearest equivalents in Portuguese of the phonemes in the original language. The word stress became estresse as in the example above.Template:Citation needed
- Classical Arabic does not allow clusters at the beginning of a word, and typically uses Template:IPA to break up such clusters in borrowings: Latin Template:Wikt-lang > Template:Wikt-lang Template:IPA 'street'. In Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic, copy vowels are often used as well, e.g. English/French klaxon (car horn) > Egyptian Arabic Template:Lang Template:IPA 'car horn', but note French Template:Lang > Egyptian Arabic Template:Lang Template:IPA (where Template:IPA corresponds to Modern Standard Arabic Template:IPA). Many other modern varieties such as North Levantine Arabic and Moroccan Arabic allow word-initial clusters, however.
- Persian also does not allow clusters at the beginning of a word and typically uses Template:IPA to break up such clusters in borrowings except between Template:IPA and Template:IPA, when Template:IPA is added.Template:Citation needed
- Spanish does not allow clusters at the beginning of a word with an Template:IPA in them and adds e- to such words: Latin Template:Lang > Template:Lang, English stress > Template:Lang.Template:Citation needed
- Turkish prefixes close vowels to loanwords with initial clusters of alveolar fricatives followed by another consonant: Template:Lang < Greek Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Transliteration), Template:Lang < set screw, Template:Lang < Greek Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Transliteration), Template:Lang < Byzantine Greek Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration), Template:Lang < steamboat, Template:Lang < Scotland, Template:Lang < Greek Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration), Template:Lang < Greek Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration). The practice is no longer productive as of late 20th century and a few such words have changed back: Template:Lang < Template:Lang < French Template:Wikt-lang.Template:Citation needed
Informal speech
Epenthesis most often occurs within unfamiliar or complex consonant clusters. For example, in English, the name Dwight is commonly pronounced with an epenthetic schwa between the Template:IPA and the Template:IPA (Template:IPA), and many speakers insert a schwa between the Template:IPA and Template:IPA of realtor.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> Irish English and Scottish English are some of the dialects that may insert a schwa between Template:IPA and Template:IPA in words like film (Template:IPA) under the influence of Celtic languages, a phenomenon that also occurs in Indian English due to the influence of Indo-Aryan languages like Hindi.
Epenthesis is sometimes used for humorous or childlike effect. For example, the cartoon character Yogi Bear says "pic-a-nic basket" for picnic basket. Another example is found in the chants of England football fans in which England is usually rendered as Template:IPA or the pronunciation of athlete as "ath-e-lete". Some apparent occurrences of epenthesis, however, have a separate cause: the pronunciation of nuclear as Template:Sic (Template:IPA) in some North American dialects arises out of analogy with other -cular words (binocular, particular, etc.) rather than from epenthesis.
In colloquial registers of Brazilian Portuguese, Template:IPA is sometimes inserted between consonant clusters except those with Template:IPA (Template:Lang), Template:IPA (Template:Lang) or syllable-ending Template:IPA (Template:Lang; note syllable-final Template:IPA is pronounced Template:IPA in a number of dialects). Examples would be Template:Lang Template:IPA, Template:Lang Template:IPA and Template:Lang Template:IPA. Some dialects also use Template:IPA, which is deemed as stereotypical of people from lower classes, such as those arriving from rural flight in internal migrations to cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Brasília and São Paulo.
In Finnish
In Finnish, there are two epenthetic vowels and two nativization vowels. One epenthetic vowel is the preceding vowel, found in the illative case ending Template:Lang: Template:Lang → Template:Lang, Template:Lang → Template:Lang. The second is Template:IPA, connecting stems that have historically been consonant stems to their case endings: Template:Lang → Template:Lang.
In Standard Finnish, consonant clusters may not be broken by epenthetic vowels; foreign words undergo consonant deletion rather than addition of vowels: Template:Lang (Template:Gloss) from Proto-Germanic Template:Wikt-lang. However, modern loans may not end in consonants. Even if the word, such as a personal name, is native, a paragogic vowel is needed to connect a consonantal case ending to the word. The vowel is Template:IPA: Template:Lang → Template:Lang, or in the case of personal name, Template:Lang + Template:Lang → Template:Lang Template:Gloss (elative case).
Finnish has moraic consonants: Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang are of interest. In Standard Finnish, they are slightly intensified before a consonant in a medial cluster: Template:Lang. Some dialects, like Savo and Ostrobothnian, have epenthesis instead and use the preceding vowel in clusters of type Template:Lang and Template:Lang, in Savo also Template:Lang. (In Finnish linguistics, the phenomenon is often referred to as Template:Lang; the same word can also mean Template:Gloss, but it is not a phoneme in Finnish so there is usually no danger of confusion.)
For example, Template:Lang Template:Gloss → Template:Lang, Template:Lang → Template:Lang, and Savo Template:Lang → Template:Lang. Ambiguities may result: Template:Lang Template:Gloss vs. Template:Lang. (An exception is that in Pohjanmaa, Template:Lang and Template:Lang become Template:Lang and Template:Lang, respectively: Template:Lang → Template:Lang. Also, in a small region in Savo, Template:IPA is used instead.)<ref name="Savolainen" />
In constructed languages
Lojban, a constructed language that seeks logically-oriented grammatical and phonological structures, uses a number of consonant clusters in its words. Since it is designed to be as universal as possible, it allows a type of anaptyxis called "buffering" to be used if a speaker finds a cluster difficult or impossible to pronounce. A vowel sound that is nonexistent in Lojban (usually /ɪ/ as in Template:Gloss) is added between two consonants to make the word easier to pronounce. Despite altering the phonetics of a word, the use of buffering is completely ignored by grammar. Also, the vowel sound used must not be confused with any existing Lojban vowel.
An example of buffering in Lojban is that if a speaker finds the cluster Template:IPA in the word Template:Wikt-lang (Template:Gloss) (pronounced Template:IPA) hard or impossible to pronounce, the vowel Template:IPA can be pronounced between the two consonants, resulting in the form Template:IPA. Nothing changes grammatically, including the word's spelling and the syllabication.
In sign language
A type of epenthesis in sign language is known as "movement epenthesis" and occurs, most commonly, during the boundary between signs while the hands move from the posture required by the first sign to that required by the next.<ref name="Valli">Template:Citation</ref>
Related phenomena
- Infixation: the insertion of a morpheme within a word
- Metathesis: the reordering of sounds within a word
- Paragoge: the addition of a sound to the end of a word
- Prothesis: the addition of a sound to the beginning of a word
- Tmesis: the inclusion of a whole word within another one
See also
- Assibilation
- Assimilation
- Coarticulation (Co-articulated consonant, Secondary articulation)
- Consonant harmony
- Crasis
- Dissimilation
- Labialisation
- Language game
- Lenition
- Metathesis
- Palatalization
- Pharyngealisation
- Sandhi
- Velarization
- Vowel harmony