Figure Name | epenthesis |
Source | Silva Rhetoricae (http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Silva.htm); Isidore 1.35.2; Mosellanus, a3r ("epenthesis" "interpositio"); Susenbrotus (1540) 21 ("epenthesis," "interpositio"); Sherry (1550) 27 ("epenthesis," "interpositio"); Wilson (1560) 202 ("interlacing in the midst"); Peacham (1577) E2r ; JG Smith (1665) ("epenthesis"); Macbeth (1876); Holmes (1806) ("epenthesis") |
Earliest Source | None |
Synonyms | interpositio, interlacing in the midst, insertion |
Etymology | from Gk. epi, "in addition," and thesis, "placing" |
Type | Scheme |
Linguistic Domain |
Orthographic Phonological |
Definition |
1. The addition of a letter, sound, or syllable to the middle of a word. A kind of metaplasm. (Silva Rhetoricae) 2. Interposition; it is the interposition of a letter or syllable in the middle of a word.; Epenthesis, interpositio, interposition, or a putting in between. Epenthesis is the interposition of a letter or syllable in the midst of a word. (JG Smith) 3. Epenthesis, or Insertion, is our next figure of etymology, the inserting of a letter or letters in the middle of a word. (Macbeth) 4. Epenthesis to th' middle adds one more, Than what the word could justly claim before. (Holmes) |
Example |
1. Addition of a medial letter: When "sherbet" is pronounced "sherbert" Addition of an medial syllable: When "realtor" is pronounced "realator" I have but with a cursorary eye O'erglanc'd the articles. 3. "I du believe in prayer and praise 4. Blackamoore, for Blackmoor. (Holmes) |
Kind Of | |
Part Of | |
Related Figures | syncope, prothesis, paragoge, figures of etymology |
Notes | 'Type of' would be 'addition' but this is not an option. Epenthesis is sometimes employed in order to accommodate meter in verse; sometimes, to facilitate easier articulation of a word's sound. It can, of course, be accidental, and a vice of speech. |
Confidence | Unconfident |
Last Editor | Nayoung Hong |
Confidence | Unconfident |
Editorial Notes | |
Reviewed | No |