{{Short description|Merging of two syllables into one}} {{Sound change}} A '''synalepha''' or '''synaloepha''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|s|ɪ|n|ə|ˈ|l|iː|f|ə}}<ref>Greek συναλοιφή (or {{LSJ|sunalifh/|συναλιφή}}), from {{LSJ|sunalei/fw|συναλείφω}}: συν- "together" and {{LSJ|a)lei/fw|ἀλείφω}} "I anoint", "smear". {{ablaut|οι|ει|ι|verb root|greek}}</ref> is the merging of two syllables into one, especially when it causes two words to be pronounced as one.
The original meaning in Ancient Greek is more general than modern usage and includes coalescence of vowels within a word. Similarly, synalepha most often refers to elision (as in English contraction), but it can also refer to coalescence by other metaplasms: synizesis, synaeresis or crasis.<ref>W. Sidney Allen, ''Vox Graeca'', chart of "Types of vowel-junction", p. 98.</ref>
==Examples== {{Original research|date=January 2022|section}} Spanish, Portuguese and Italian use synalepha, which is important in counting syllables in poetry. An example is in this hendecasyllable (11-syllable line) by Garcilaso de la Vega:
: ''Los cabellos qu'''e a'''l or'''o o'''scurecían.'' :: The hair that endarkened the gold.
The words ''que'' and ''al'' form one syllable in counting them because of synalepha. The same thing happens with ''-ro'' and ''os-'' and so the line has eleven syllables (syllable boundaries are shown by a dot):
: ''Los·ca·be·llos·qu'''eal'''·o·r'''oo'''s·cu·re·cí·an.''
== See also == * Metaplasm ** Elision—Contraction (grammar) *** Apheresis (initial) *** Syncope (medial) *** Apocope (final) ** Crasis ** Synizesis (merge into one syllable without change in writing) ** Synaeresis—opposite Diaeresis * Correption
==Notes== <references />
Category:Figures of speech Category:Phonology
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