Inpoetic meter,diaeresis (/daɪˈɛrəsɪs,-ˈɪər-/dy-ERR-ə-siss, -EER-; also spelleddiæresis ordieresis) has two meanings: the separate pronunciation of the twovowels in adiphthong for the sake ofmeter, and a division betweenfeet that corresponds to the division between words.
Synaeresis, the pronunciation of two vowels as a diphthong (or as along vowel), is the opposite of the first definition.
Diaeresis comes from theAncient Greek noundiaíresis (διαίρεσις) "taking apart" or "division" (also "distinction"),[1] from the verbdiairéō (διαιρέω) "take apart",[2] acompound of the verbairéō (αἱρέω) "take" and the prepositiondiá (διά) "through" (in compounds, "apart").[3]
In thephonology ofStandard French, the lettersie are normally pronounced[je] or[jɛ] except afterCr orCl, when they indicate two syllables,[ije] or[ijɛ]. (That exception came into the language only around the 17th century, as can be seen in poems before then.)
In some French dialects, however, diaeresis is the norm, with the two-syllable pronunciation found after any consonant. In Standard French, the pronunciation ofhier (yesterday) varies between the two,[jɛʁ] or[ijɛʁ], depending on the context.
Diaeresis as separate pronunciation of vowels in a diphthong was first named where it occurred in the poetry ofHomer.
In this example, diaereses are in bold. The vowels in each diaeresis are placed in separate syllables when the line isscanned:
Dactylic hexameter depends on the sequence of long and short (orheavy and light) syllables. It is composed of sixfeet, five of which are in two basic patterns: long–short–short (dactyl) or long–long (spondee).
In the scansion of the line above, long syllables are uppercase, short syllables are lowercase, and feet are divided by a vertical line. All feet in the line conform to one of the two patterns of dactylic hexameter.
If the pairs of vowels are contracted into diphthongs bysynaeresis (i.e.,Ὀδυσῇ δαίφρονι) and the diphthongs are placed in one syllable each, one foot (inred) no longer follows the patterns, no matter how the line is scanned:
In Homer,compounds beginning withἐύ- (also spelledἐΰ-, with a diaeresis ortrema) frequently contain two separate vowels (diaeresis). In later Greek, the two vowels form a diphthong (synaeresis).
The word comes fromεὖ "well",[4] theadverbial use of the neuteraccusative singular of the adjectiveἐύς "good".[5]
The form with diaeresis is the original form, since the word comes fromProto-Indo-European*esu (e-grade ofablaut), which iscognate withSanskritsu- (zero-grade).[6] InProto-Greek,s between vowels becameh (debuccalization), and later was lost.
