aphetic
|a-phe-tic|
/əˈfɛtɪk/
loss of an initial sound
Etymology
'aphetic' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'aphairesis' (via Late Greek 'aphesis'), where the elements 'a-' meant 'away' and 'phairein' meant 'to take'.
'aphetic' developed from Late Greek 'aphesis' (meaning the act of taking away), passed into Medieval/Scientific Latin as 'aphesis', and the adjective was formed in modern English as 'aphetic' (relating to aphesis).
Initially it referred broadly to 'a taking away' (the act of removal); over time it became specialized in phonetics/philology to mean 'loss of an initial vowel or syllable', and the adjective 'aphetic' now means 'relating to or showing aphesis'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
relating to aphesis — the phonological process in which an initial vowel or syllable is lost.
Linguists described the change as aphetic when the initial vowel was dropped in rapid speech.
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Adjective 2
describing a word form that has undergone aphesis (i.e., the word itself is missing its original initial vowel or syllable).
The aphetic form 'round' derives from 'around' and illustrates common colloquial reduction.
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Last updated: 2025/09/16 06:22