Definition:
The gradual and unintentional loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word. Adjective: aphetic. Compare with apocope and syncope. The opposite of aphesis is prothesis.
See also:
Etymology:
From the Greek, "to let go"Examples and Observations:
- "Cute is an aphetic form of acute; longshore is the truncated form of alongshore. This explains the American usage longshoreman for our [Australian] stevedore. Stevedore is itself an aphetic adaptation of the Spanish estivador, which derives from estivar: to stow a cargo.
"Likewise, sample is an aphetic form of example; backward is an aphetic form of abackward; and vanguard was once avauntguard, from which avant-garde also derives.
"Ninny is an aphetic and abbreviated form of an innocent. More recently, we have squire from esquire, specially for especially. In the language of the law, several ambiguous forms survive: vow and avow; void and avoid."
(Julian Burnside, Word Watching. Thunder's Mouth Press, 2004)
- Aphetic Verbal Doppelganger
"David Brinkley welcomed Vice President Al Gore on his Sunday morning ABC program with a cordial 'Thank you for coming.' Mr. Gore--as so many guests now do--answered with the aphetic 'thank you' with a slight emphasis on the you.
"'You're welcome used to be the standard response to thank you,' writes Daniel Kocan of Orlando, Fla. 'Now thank you is the stock response to thank you. Since when, and why? Can you explain this recent doppelganger phenomenon?'
"First to doppelganger: this is from the German for 'the ghostly double of a living person,' and is an apt description of the returned thank you. Next to the aphetic, or shortening of words or phrases by the elimination of the unstressed word or syllable: the I is lost in I thank you."
(William Safire, "On Language: Let 'Er Rip." The New York Times, November 28, 1993)
Pronunciation: AFF-i-sis
Also Known As: aphaeresis, apherisis
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