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Inphonology,epenthesis (/ɪˈpɛnθəsɪs,ɛ-/;Greekἐπένθεσις) 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 assyncope orelision.[1]
The wordepenthesis comes fromepi-'in addition to' anden-'in' andthesis'putting'. Epenthesis may be divided into two types:excrescence for the addition of aconsonant, and for the addition of avowel,svarabhakti (in Sanskrit) or alternativelyanaptyxis (/ˌænəpˈtɪksɪs/).
Epenthesis arises for a variety of reasons. Thephonotactics of a given language may discourage vowels inhiatus orconsonant 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.
A consonant may be added to separate vowels in hiatus, as is the case withlinking and intrusive R in English.
A consonant may be placed between consonants in a consonant cluster where theplace of articulation is different (such as if one consonant islabial and the other isalveolar).
A vowel may be placed between consonants to separate them.
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 prefixma- (真〜（ま〜）; 'pure …, complete …') transforms regularly toma'- (真っ〜（まっ〜）; (gemination of following consonant)) when it is followed by a consonant, as inmasshiro (真っ白（まっしろ）; 'pure white'). The English suffix-t, often found in the form-st, as inamongst (fromamong +-st), is an example of terminal excrescence.
Excrescence is the epenthesis of a consonant.
InFrench,-t-/t/ is inserted between aninverted subject and verb, when the verb ends in a vowel and the subject is a pronoun beginning with a vowel:il a ('he has') >a-t-il ('has he');elle s'exclama ('she exclaimed') >s'exclama-t-elle ('exclaimed she'). There is no epenthesis from a historical perspective since thea-t is derived from Latinhabet ('he has'), and so thet is the original third-person verb inflection. It is incorrect to call it epenthesis unless it is viewedsynchronically since the modern basic form of the verb isa and so thepsycholinguistic process is the addition oft to the base form.
A similar example is theEnglishindefinite articlea, which becomesan before a vowel. It originated fromOld Englishān ('one, a, an'), which retained ann in all positions, so adiachronic analysis would see the originaln 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.
InDutch, whenever the suffix-er (which has several meanings) is attached to a word already ending in-r, an additional-d- is inserted in between. For example, the comparative form of the adjectivezoet ('sweet') iszoeter, but the comparative ofzuur ('sour') iszuurder and not the expected **zurer. Similarly, the agent noun ofverkopen ('to sell') isverkoper ('salesperson'), but the agent noun ofuitvoeren ('to perform') isuitvoerder ('performer').
In English, astop consonant is often added as a transitional sound between the parts of a nasal + fricative sequence:
The three short syllables inreliquiās do not fit intodactylic hexameter because of thedactyl's limit of two short syllables so the first syllable is lengthened by adding anotherl. However, the pronunciation was often not written with doublell, and may have been the normal way of pronouncing a word starting inrel- rather than a poetic modification.
A limited number of words inJapanese use epenthetic consonants to separate vowels. An example is the wordharusame (春雨（はるさめ）; 'spring rain'), a compound ofharu andame in which an/s/ is added to separate the final/u/ ofharu and the initial/a/ ofame. That is asynchronic analysis, looking just at the modern language.
As for adiachronic analysis, looking at historical change, this epenthetic/s/ only appears in a small number of compounds coined mostly inOld Japanese, and only applying to a handful of words used as the second element in such compounds. For examples likeharusame (春雨（はるさめ）; 'spring rain'),kosame (小雨（こさめ）; 'light rain'), andkirisame (霧雨（きりさめ）; 'drizzle, light rain'), one possibility is that Old Japanese /ame2/ was once pronounced */same2/; the/s/ 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/s/ inmassao (真っ青（まっさお）; deep blue, ghastly pale), which is instead from Old Japanesesawo (さ青（さを）; very blue), from the intensifiersa- (さ-) plus merging of the/a/ insa- and the following/a/ inawo (Old Japanese § Morphophonemics).
Epenthesis of a vowel is known asanaptyxis (/ˌænəpˈtɪksɪs/, from Greekἀνάπτυξις'unfolding'). 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 areacoustically identical withphonemic vowels.
Many languages insert a so-calledprop 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 theGallo-Romance languages, a propschwa/ə/ was added when final non-open vowels were dropped leaving/Cr/ clusters at the end, e.g., Latinnigrum '(shiny) black' > *[ˈneɡro] >Old Frenchneɡre/ˈneɡrə/ 'black' (thus avoiding the impermissible/neɡr/, cf.carrum >char 'cart').
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 inLebanese Arabic, where/ˈʔaləb/ 'heart' corresponds toModern Standard Arabicقلب/qalb/ andEgyptian Arabic/ʔælb/. In the development ofOld English,Proto-Germanic*akraz 'field, acre' would have ended up with an impermissible/kr/ final cluster (*æcr), so it was resolved by inserting an/e/ before therhotic consonant:æcer (cf. the use of asyllabic consonant inGothicakrs).
Vowel insertion in the middle of a word can be observed in the history of theSlavic languages, which had a preference foropen syllables in medieval times. An example of this is theProto-Slavic form*gordŭ 'town', in which theEast Slavic languages inserted an epentheticcopy vowel to open theclosed syllable, resulting inгородъ (gorodŭ), which becameгород (gorod) in modern Russian and Ukrainian. Other Slavic languages usedmetathesis for the vowel and the syllable-final consonant, producing *grodŭ in this case, as seen in Polishgród,Old Church Slavonicградъgradŭ, Serbo-Croatiangrad and Czechhrad.
In manyWest Germanic language varieties (such asDutch (including localBrabantian andHollandic dialects),Limburgish,Luxembourgish andRipuarian), a phonetic[ə] is inserted between/l/ or/r/ and labial or velar/m,p,k,f,x/ (also/n/, in the case of the preceding/r/). This leads to Dutchkalm 'calm' being pronounced[ˈkɑləm], Limburgishsjolk 'apron' being pronounced[ˈʃɔlək], LuxembourgishVollek 'people' being pronounced[ˈfolək] (fromOld High Germanfolc, a monosyllable) and RipuarianDörp 'village' being pronounced[ˈdœʁəp]. The city namesBergen op Zoom andUtrecht as pronounced by locals can be spelledBerrege andUtereg ineye 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.
| Anaptyxis of the schwa in Dutch | ||
|---|---|---|
| Phonemic sequence | In closed syllables (standard) | Across syllable boundaries (dialectal) |
| /lm/ | kalm[ˈkɑləm] 'calm' | kalmer[ˈkɑləmər] 'calmer' |
| /lp/ | alp[ˈɑləp] 'alp' | alpen[ˈɑləpə(n)] 'alps' |
| /lk/ | balk[ˈbɑlək] 'beam' | balken[ˈbɑləkə(n)] 'beams' |
| /lf~lv/ | kalf[ˈkɑləf] 'calf' | kalven[ˈkɑləvə(n)] 'calves' |
| /lx/ (Northern) | balg[ˈbɑləx] 'leather bag' | balgen[ˈbɑləxə(n)] 'leather bags' |
| /lx~lɣ/ (Southern) | balgen[ˈbɑləɣə(n)] 'leather bags' | |
| /rm/ | darm[ˈdɑrəm] 'intestine' | darmen[ˈdɑrəmə(n)] 'intestines' |
| /rp/ | harp[ˈɦɑrəp] 'harp' | harpen[ˈɦɑrəpə(n)] 'harps' |
| /rk/ | park[ˈpɑrək] 'park' | parken[ˈpɑrəkə(n)] 'parks' |
| /rf~rv/ | kerf[ˈkɛrəf] 'carve' | kerven[ˈkɛrəvə(n)] 'carves' |
| /rx/ (Northern) | berg[ˈbɛrəx] 'mountain' | bergen[ˈbɛrəxə(n)] 'mountains' |
| /rx~rɣ/ (Southern) | bergen[ˈbɛrəɣə(n)] 'mountains' | |
| /rn/ | kern[ˈkɛrən] 'nucleus' | kernen[ˈkɛrənə(n)] 'nuclei' |
Dialects with both types of anaptyxis regularize the schwa-insertion, making it phonemic:/ˈkɑləm/,/ˈkɑləmər/, etc. comparably to theGOAT split in London English (except that no new phoneme is created, as/ə/ already exists in Dutch as a phoneme). In those dialects, schwa insertion also occurs between/l/ or/r/ on the one hand and/v/ or/ɣ/ on the other. Most speakers with ahard G do not have/ɣ/ as a phoneme in their system; thus, broad Amsterdam and Utrecht pronunciations ofbalgen andbergen are/ˈbɑləxə/,/ˈbɛrəxə/, with no change in the voicing of the fricative./ˈbɑləɣə/ and/ˈbɛrəɣə/ are markedly southern (Brabantian/Limburgish-influenced) dialectal pronunciations. Anaptyxis does not occur across morpheme boundaries, so that while the surnameVoorn can be pronounced[ˈvoːrən], the noun/verbvoornemen[ˈvoːrˌneːmə(n)] 'intention', 'to intend' is never pronounced *[ˈvoːrəˌneːmə(n)].
InIrish English (another West Germanic variety), anaptyxis famously occurs in words such as 'film'[ˈfɪləm], spelled 'fillum' in eye dialect.
Another environment can be observed in the history of ModernPersian, in which former word-initial consonant clusters, which were still extant inMiddle Persian, are regularly broken up: Middle Persianbrādar 'brother' > modernIranian Persianبرادرbarādar/bærɑˈdær/, Middle Persianstūn 'column' >Early New Persianستونsutūn > modern Iranian Persianستونsotun/soˈtun/.
In Spanish, as a phonetic detail, it is usual to find aschwa vowel in sequences of a consonant followed by a flap. For instance,vinagre 'vinegar' may be[biˈnaɣɾe] but also[biˈnaɣᵊɾe].[citation needed]
ManyIndo-Aryan languages carry an inherent vowel after each consonant. For example, inAssamese, the inherent vowel is "o" (অ), while inHindi andMarathi, it is "a" (अ). Sanskrit words likemaaŋsa ('meat',মাংস),ratna ('jewel',ৰত্ন),yatna ('effort',যত্ন),padma ('lotus',পদ্ম),harsha ('joy',হৰ্ষ),dvaara ('door',দ্বাৰ) etc. becomemoŋoh (মাংস >মঙহ),roton (ৰত্ন >ৰতন),zoton (যত্ন >যতন),podum (পদ্ম >পদুম),horix (হৰ্ষ >হৰিষ),duwar (দ্বাৰ >দুৱাৰ) etc. in Assamese.[2] Other, non-Tatsama words also undergo anaptyxis, for example, the English wordglass becomesgilas (গিলাছ).
In theWestern Romance languages, a prothetic vowel was inserted at the beginning of any word that began with/s/ and another consonant, e.g. Latinspatha 'two-edged sword, typically used by cavalry' becomes the normal word for 'sword' in Romance languages with an inserted/e/: Spanish/Portugueseespada, Catalanespasa, Old Frenchespede > modernépée (see alsoespadon '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:
Similarly, at some point in theProto-Armenian language andClassical Armenian, the prothetic vowelե was placed at the beginning of the word before the soundր, leading to words likeերախ ('animal mouth',erax) from Iranianrax ('animal mouth'), orերազ ('dream',eraz) from Iranianraz ('mystery').
Epenthesis often breaks up aconsonant cluster or vowel sequence that is not permitted by thephonotactics of a language. Regular or semi-regular epenthesis commonly occurs in languages withaffixes. For example, areduced vowel/ɪ/ or/ə/ (here abbreviated as/ᵻ/) is inserted before the English plural suffix-/z/ and the past tense suffix-/d/ when the root ends in a similar consonant:glass →glasses/ˈɡlæsᵻz/ or/ˈɡlɑːsᵻz/;bat →batted/ˈbætᵻd/. However, this is asynchronic analysis as the vowel was originally present in the suffix but has been lost in most words.
Vocalic epenthesis typically occurs when words are borrowed from a language that has consonant clusters orsyllable codas that are not permitted in the borrowing language.
Languages use various vowels, but schwa is quite common when it is available:
Epenthesis most often occurs within unfamiliar or complex consonant clusters. For example, in English, the nameDwight is commonly pronounced with an epentheticschwa between the/d/ and the/w/ ([dəˈwaɪt]), and many speakers insert a schwa between the/l/ and/t/ ofrealtor.[3]Irish English andScottish English are some of the dialects that may insert a schwa between/l/ and/m/ in words likefilm ([ˈfɪləm]) under the influence ofCeltic languages, a phenomenon that also occurs inIndian English due to the influence ofIndo-Aryan languages likeHindi.
Epenthesis is sometimes used for humorous or childlike effect. For example, the cartoon characterYogi Bear says "pic-a-nic basket" forpicnic basket. Another example is found in the chants ofEngland football fans in which England is usually rendered as[ˈɪŋɡələnd] or the pronunciation ofathlete as "ath-e-lete". Some apparent occurrences of epenthesis, however, have a separate cause: the pronunciation ofnuclear asnucular (/ˈn(j)ukjəlɚ/) 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,[i] is sometimes inserted between consonant clusters except those with/l/ (atleta),/ɾ/ (prato) or syllable-ending/s/ (pasta; note syllable-final/s/ is pronounced[ʃ] in a number of dialects). Examples would betsunami/tʃisuˈnami/,advogado/adʒivoˈɡadu/ andabdômen[abiˈdomẽj]. Some dialects also use[e], which isdeemed as stereotypical of people from lower classes, such as those arriving fromrural flight in internal migrations to cities such asRio de Janeiro,Brasília andSão Paulo.
InFinnish, there are two epenthetic vowels and two nativization vowels. One epenthetic vowel is thepreceding vowel, found in theillative case ending-(h)*n:maa →maahan,talo →taloon. The second is[e], connecting stems that have historically been consonant stems to their case endings:nim+n →nimen.
In Standard Finnish, consonant clusters may not be broken by epenthetic vowels; foreign words undergo consonant deletion rather than addition of vowels:ranta ('shore') from Proto-Germanic*strandō. However, modern loans may not end in consonants. Even if the word, such as a personal name, is native, aparagogic vowel is needed to connect a consonantal case ending to the word. The vowel is/i/:(Inter)net →netti, or in the case of personal name,Bush +-sta →Bushista'about Bush' (elative case).
Finnish hasmoraic consonants:l,h andn are of interest. In Standard Finnish, they are slightly intensified before a consonant in a medial cluster:-hj-. Some dialects, likeSavo andOstrobothnian, have epenthesis instead and use the preceding vowel in clusters of type-lC- and-hC-, in Savo also-nh-. (In Finnish linguistics, the phenomenon is often referred to asšvaa; the same word can also mean'schwa', but it is not aphoneme in Finnish so there is usually no danger of confusion.)
For example,Pohjanmaa'Ostrobothnia' →Pohojammaa,ryhmä →ryhymä, and Savovanha →vanaha. Ambiguities may result:salmi'strait' vs.salami. (An exception is that in Pohjanmaa,-lj- and-rj- become-li- and-ri-, respectively:kirja →kiria. Also, in a small region in Savo,/e/ is used instead.)[4]
Lojban, aconstructed language that seekslogically-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'hit') 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[ml] in the wordmlatu ('cat') (pronounced['mlatu]) hard or impossible to pronounce, the vowel[ɐ] can be pronounced between the two consonants, resulting in the form[mɐˈlatu]. Nothing changes grammatically, including the word's spelling and thesyllabication.
A type of epenthesis insign 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.[5]