Synaeresis

In linguistics, synaeresis (Greek συναίρεσις) is the contraction of two vowels into a diphthong (or long vowel). If synaeresis is used against convention, it may serve as a rhetorical figure (a metaplasm). The opposite phenomenon is known as diaeresis.

In historical linguistics, such contractions often result after the regular loss of a consonant that used to separate the two vowels. In this case, the resulting vowel or diphthong will typically carry a circumflex intonation.

See also

• Synalepha
• Contraction (grammar)
• Diaeresis
• Crasis