Syncope
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- "Syncope" is also the medical term for fainting.
- "Syncope" is also a progressive indie-rock band.
In linguistics, syncope (/ˈsɪŋkəpi/, from Greek syn- + kopein “to strike”) is the loss of one or more sounds or letters in the interior of a word (as in fo'c'sle for forecastle) or from a phrase treated as a unit; compare elision.
Syncope gives rise to many of the silent letters in English spelling. The traditional spellings of English place names such as Worcester and Gloucester bear evidence of syncope, as does the usual pronunciation of parliament. Syncope is the reason why Australian English is colloquially known as Strine.
In some traditional English spellings, the syncope suffered by abbreviated forms is indicated by an apostrophe, as in didn't and I'd've. In other, similar words, it is customary to omit the apostrophe, as in gonna for going to or wannabe for want to be. The forms showing syncope, whether indicated or not, are usually marked as colloquial and not used in the most formal sorts of English.
Poets in some languages have employed syncope as a way of preserving a line's meter by dropping an extra syllable. In Greek poetry, syncope was the removal of any syllable in a metrical foot, while in English poetry syncope was customarily the removal of an unstressed syllable. Sometimes these unstressed syllables were slight enough that the poet would not indicate the elision ("hastening" being treated rhythmically as a disyllable), while other times the poet indicated the syncope with an apostrophe. Some such contractions have become common rhetorical devices ("O'er the ramparts we watched ..." from "The Star-Spangled Banner"). Used in speeches, they often signal a deliberate attempt to evoke an earlier time.
Another example is hea'en or heav'n used as a poetic contraction of heaven.[verification needed]
