aphetic
adjective
phoneticsspecializeduk/əˈfet.ɪk/us/əˈfet̬.ɪk/relatingto thegraduallossof anunstressed(=weak)vowelsoundat thebeginningof a word:
InspokenEnglish, manypeopledo notpronouncethe word "eleven" with threesyllables, but use an apheticvariantthatsoundslike "leven".
Apheticformsandphoneticspellingare verycommonin this 16thcenturybook.
- Dictionariesdisagreeon whether "maze" is an apheticreductionof "amaze".
- Thepronoun"it" was an apheticformof theOldEnglishpronoun"hit".
- The word "it's" is just an apheticelisionof "it is".
Linguistics: phonology & phonetics
- alliterative
- alveolar
- apheresis
- aphesis
- approximant
- aspirate
- guttural
- homonym
- lax
- lenis
- macron
- misemphasis
- mispronunciation
- phonology
- schwa
- semivowel
- sibilance
- sibilant
- speech pathology
- suprasegmental