Synizesis
Synizesis (/ˌsɪnəˈziːsɪs/) is a sound change (metaplasm) in which two originally syllabic vowels (hiatus) are pronounced instead as a single syllable.
The term was used to describe this vowel change as early as the 2nd century CE, by the Alexandrian grammarian, Hephaestion.
[4] Ancient grammarians, such as Hephaestion, defined synizesis broadly as the “σύλληψις” (syllepsis, “a taking together (of sounds)”) of any two syllables.
[13] These disagreements come as a result of the fact that languages rarely have a means of distinguishing between hiatic and synizetic pronunciation via their script.
For instance, it has been suggested that the metrical peculiarity and difficult pronunciation of the final two words lend a tension and foreboding to the line.
[17] Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus: Particularly in the prosody of Attic tragedy, patterns have been observed as to the recurrence of synizesis in particular positions.
[19] The word "Θησέως" (Thēséōs, "of Theseus") appears in lines 1003 and 1103 of Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus, and illustrates Rumpel's findings.
[24] Second, the word πόλεως (póleōs, "of the city"), is also a notable exception to this rule, as it is more frequently pronounced in synizesis, regardless of the foot in which it falls.
For example, in Pindar, Nemean Ode VI, ἐπηετατόν (epēetatón, "lasting all through the year") (line 10) undergoes synizesis in "ηε" similar to what occurs in Hesiod.
[32] Vergil, Aeneid: In the first and third examples, the final two vowels undergo synizesis in order to form the anceps at the end of the line.
[39] Though it has been argued that a Eurocentric approach of analysing Japanese poetry in terms of "lines" and "metre" may be inappropriate, synizesis has nevertheless been understood to occur.
[44] However, if "有明" (ariake, "dawn") is read instead as [arjake] or [arʲake], with the [i] vowel devocalised and pronounced alternatively as a glide, the metre may be maintained.
For instance, the Italian derivative of Latin trisyllabic habeo ("I have") is disyllabic abbio, where the final -eo changed to the glide as in /jo/, written as -io.
[55] However, particularly in the Tokyo dialect, words with this sequence such as 大概 (taigai, "generally") and 痛い (itai, "painful") have been reduced, giving disyllabic /teːgeː/ and /iteː/ respectively.
[59][full citation needed] For instance, the more formal form of the word meaning “child,” 아이 (a-i), underwent synizesis in casual speech, becoming 애 (ae).
Similarly, the formal word for “man,” 사나이 (sa-na-i), became 사내 (sa-nae), in casual speech.
The inverse is also true: the word καθάρια (katharia, "clean"), correctly pronounced [ka.ˈθa.ɾja] in synizesis, can be hypercorrected to the hiatic [ka.ˈθa.ɾi.a] in formal situations.
