Apheses

/əˈfiːsɪz/ noun

Definition

Plural of aphesis; multiple instances of the loss or omission of initial syllables or sounds from words.

Etymology

From aphesis (singular) + -es (plural suffix). Apheses is the standard plural form used in linguistic analysis and historical phonology studies.

Kelly Says

English is full of apheses that happened so long ago we forget—'ed' comes from older 'anded,' and 'bye' from 'goodbye'—it's like linguistic archaeology where every conversation preserves clues of language evolution.

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