Prosiopesis
Template:Short descriptionProsiopesis (from Ancient Greek Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Translit 'becoming silent') is a term coined by Otto Jespersen for pronouncing a word or phrase without its initial sounds. Among the examples Jespersen gives are "Morning" for "Good morning" and Template:" 'Fraid not" for "I'm afraid not". Jespersen introduced the idea in a 1917 book;[1] he also mentioned it in a later work.[2]
This is similar to aposiopesis, where the ending of a sentence is deliberately excluded. David Crystal writes, "In rhetorical terminology, an elision in word-Template:Sc position was known as aphaeresis or prosiopesis, in word-Template:Sc position was known as syncope, and in word-Template:Sc position as apocope."[3] (Richard Lanham similarly defines aphaeresis more narrowly than Jespersen defines prosiopesis, a term that Lanham does not mention.[4])
Other synonyms include aphesis and procope.[5]
Prosiopesis and aposiopesis are studied as sources of interjections.[6]
References
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