Haplology

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Sound change and alternation
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Haplology is defined as the elimination of a syllable when two consecutive identical or similar syllables occur. The phenomenon was identified by American philologist Maurice Bloomfield in the 20th century.[1] Linguists sometimes jokingly refer to the phenomenon as "haplogy" (subjecting the word "haplology" to haplology).

[edit] Examples

  • Basque: sagarrardo > sagardo 'apple cider'
  • English:
    • Engla land > England [1]
    • morpho phonology > morphonology
    • Colloquial:
      • library (RP: /ˈlaɪbrərɪ/) > libry /ˈlaɪbrɪ/
      • particularly > particuly
      • pierced-ear earrings > pierced earrings [1]
      • probably > probly
      • February > Febury
    • Coercitive (obsolete spelling) > Coercive[2]
    • Hamamelididae (disallowed spelling: Hamamelidae)
    • Nycterididae > Nycteridae [1]
    • mono nomial > monomial
  • Latin: nutritrix > nutrix 'nurse'
  • Homeric Greek: amphiphoreus > amphoreus 'two-handled pitcher' [3]
  • Classical Arabic: تتقاتلون tataqātalūna > تقاتلون taqātalūna 'you are fighting each other' [4]
  • Spanish: impudicicia > impudicia 'lack of honesty' (both words are widely accepted[5])

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Crowley, Terry. (1997) An Introduction to Historical Linguistics. 3rd edition. Oxford University Press.
  1. ^ a b c "Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 06, 2008". Merriam-Webster Online. http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/mwwodarch.pl?Feb.06.2008. Retrieved 2008-02-06. 
  2. ^ Oxford English Dictionary (online version ed.). November 2010. 
  3. ^ Hock, Hans Henrich (1986). "Sound change: Dissimilation, haplology, metathesis". Principles of Historical Linguistics. De Gruyter. p. 109. ISBN 3-11-010600-0. 
  4. ^ Kaye, Alan (1987). "Arabic". In Bernard Comrie. The World's Major Languages. Oxford University Press. p. 567. ISBN 0-19-520521-9. 
  5. ^ "DRAE entry for 'impudicicia'". Diccionario de la Lengua Española Vigésima segunda edición. http://www.rae.es/impudicicia. Retrieved 2010-11-13. 
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