Syncope (phonetics)

For other uses of the word syncope, see syncope (disambiguation)

In phonology, syncope (Greek syn- + kopein “to strike”) is the loss of one or more sounds from the interior of a word; especially, the loss of an unstressed vowel.

Syncope as a historical sound change

In historical phonetics, the term "syncope" is often but not always limited to the loss of an unstressed vowel:

The loss of any sound

• Old English hláford > English lord
• English Worcester, pronounced [ˈwʊstə]
• English Gloucester, pronounced [ˈɡlɒstə]

The loss of an unstressed vowel

• Latin cál[i]dum > Italian caldo "hot"
• Latin óc[u]lum > Italian occhio "eye"
• Latin trem[u]láre > Italian tremare "to tremble"

Syncope as a poetic device

Sounds may be removed from the interior of a word as a rhetoric or poetic device, whether for embellishment or for the sake of the meter.

• Latin commo[ve]rat > poetic commorat ("he had moved")
• English hast[e]ning > poetic hast'ning
• English heav[e]n > poetic heav'n
• English over > poetic o'er

Syncope in informal speech

Various sorts of colloquial reductions might be called "syncope". Forms such as "didn't" that are written with an apostrophe are, however, generally called contractions:

• English [Au]stra[lia]n > colloquial Strine
• English go[ing t]o> gonna
• English wa[nt t]o > wanna
• English did n[o]t > didn't
• English do[n't k]no[w] > dunno
• English I [woul]d [h]ave > I'd've

See also

• Apocope
• Aphesis
• Clipping (lexicography)
• Clipping (phonetics)
• Elision
• Relaxed pronunciation
• Synalepha
• Synaeresis
• Vowel reduction

References

• Crowley, Terry. (1997) An Introduction to Historical Linguistics. 3rd edition. Oxford University Press.