View source for Synalepha

{{Short description|Merging of two syllables into one}}
{{Sound change}}
A '''synalepha''' or '''synaloepha''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|s|ɪ|n|ə|ˈ|l|iː|f|ə}}<ref>[[Greek language|Greek]] συναλοιφή (or {{LSJ|sunalifh/|συναλιφή}}), from {{LSJ|sunalei/fw|συναλείφω}}: συν- "together" and {{LSJ|a)lei/fw|ἀλείφω}} "I anoint", "smear". {{ablaut|οι|ει|ι|verb root|greek}}</ref> is the [[coalescence (linguistics)|merging]] of two syllables into one, especially when it causes two words to be pronounced as one.

The original meaning in [[Ancient Greek]] is more general than modern usage and includes coalescence of vowels within a word. Similarly, synalepha most often refers to [[elision]] (as in English [[contraction (grammar)|contraction]]), but it can also refer to coalescence by other [[metaplasm]]s: [[synizesis]], [[synaeresis]] or [[crasis]].<ref>[[W. Sidney Allen]], ''Vox Graeca'', chart of "Types of vowel-junction", p. 98.</ref>

==Examples==
{{Original research|date=January 2022|section}}
Spanish, Portuguese and Italian use synalepha, which is important in counting syllables in poetry. An example is in this [[hendecasyllable]] (11-syllable line) by [[Garcilaso de la Vega (poet)|Garcilaso de la Vega]]:

: ''Los cabellos qu'''e a'''l or'''o o'''scurecían.''
:: The hair that endarkened the gold.

The words ''que'' and ''al'' form one syllable in counting them because of synalepha. The same thing happens with ''-ro'' and ''os-'' and so the line has eleven syllables (syllable boundaries are shown by a [[interpunct#In written language|dot]]):

: ''Los·ca·be·llos·qu'''eal'''·o·r'''oo'''s·cu·re·cí·an.''

== See also ==
* [[Metaplasm]]
** [[Elision]]—[[Contraction (grammar)]]
*** [[Apheresis (linguistics)|Apheresis]] (initial)
*** [[Syncope (phonetics)|Syncope]] (medial)
*** [[Apocope]] (final)
** [[Crasis]]
** [[Synizesis]] (merge into one syllable without change in writing)
** [[Synaeresis]]—opposite [[Diaeresis (prosody)|Diaeresis]]
* [[Correption]]

==Notes==
<references />

[[Category:Figures of speech]]
[[Category:Phonology]]


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