Epenthesis

In phonology, epenthesis (/ɪˈpɛnθəsɪs, ɛ-/; Greek ἐπένθεσις) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially to the interior of a word (at the beginning prothesis and at the end paragoge are commonly used). The word epenthesis comes from epi- 'in addition to' and en 'in' and thesis 'putting'. Epenthesis may be divided into two types: excrescence, for the addition of a consonant, and svarabhakti, or anaptyxis (/ˌænəpˈtɪksɪs/), for the addition of a vowel. The opposite process where one or more sounds are removed is referred to as elision. In phonology, epenthesis (/ɪˈpɛnθəsɪs, ɛ-/; Greek ἐπένθεσις) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially to the interior of a word (at the beginning prothesis and at the end paragoge are commonly used). The word epenthesis comes from epi- 'in addition to' and en 'in' and thesis 'putting'. Epenthesis may be divided into two types: excrescence, for the addition of a consonant, and svarabhakti, or anaptyxis (/ˌænəpˈtɪksɪs/), for the addition of a vowel. The opposite process where one or more sounds are removed is referred to as elision. 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 make pronunciation easier. Epenthesis may be represented in writing or be a feature only of the spoken language. A consonant may be added to separate vowels in hiatus. This is the case with linking and intrusive R in English. A consonant may be placed between consonants in a consonant cluster where the place of articulation is different (e.g., where one consonant is labial and the other is alveolar).