epenthesis
epenthesis — noun
1. the process of adding an extra speech sound inside a word, often because the new
the process of adding an extra speech sound inside a word, often because the new combination feels more natural to pronounce — for instance, the 'uh' that many English speakers place inside 'athlete' (pronouncing it as three syllables instead of two)
Kwame says 'athlete' with three syllables — that extra 'uh' sound is a case of epenthesis.
example with the 'uh' sound often inserted in 'athlete'
Inês learned that a 'p' can appear through epenthesis between an 'm' and a 't' sound.
Some speakers say 'warmpth' instead of 'warmth' — that extra 'p' is a form of epenthesis.
Adding a vowel inside 'film' to make two syllables is an example of epenthesis.
Takeshi's linguistics essay argued that epenthesis helps speakers avoid awkward sound sequences in everyday speech.
- insertion
general term not limited to speech sounds; 'insertion' can refer to letters in writing, while 'epenthesis' is specifically phonological
- vowel insertion
a specific type of epenthesis; narrower, since epenthesis can also involve consonants
- anaptyxis
a subtype of epenthesis that specifically refers to inserting a vowel between two consonants; highly technical, rare outside linguistics literature
文法句型
epenthesis of + [sound type]
vowel epenthesis / consonant epenthesis
undergo epenthesis
用法筆記
Uncountable when discussing the phenomenon in general ('Epenthesis is common across languages'); countable when referring to a particular instance ('This word shows three epentheses in its history'). The related adjective is epenthetic ('an epenthetic vowel').