apophony
English
editEtymology
editFrom French apophonie, from French apo- + Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”), after Ancient Greek ἀπο- (apo-, “away, from, off”) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”).
Noun
editapophony (countable and uncountable, plural apophonies)
- (phonetics) Modification of an internal vowel sound in a word or linguistic root, especially so as to establish a lexical distinction.
- Synonym: antiphony
- Near-synonyms: ablaut, gradation, vowel mutation
- 2014, D. Gary Miller, English Lexicogenesis, →ISBN, page 9:
- Apophony in both inflection and derivation has been shrinking through the history of English, but continues to be available in synesthesia (e.g. bing, bang, bong, §10.3.2) and, less productively, in reduplicative and conjunctive formations (e.g. mishmash, §14.4).
Usage notes
editApophony is often used synonymously with ablaut, but recent sources sometimes distinguish apophony as a lexical rather than grammatical feature: thus the words tip and top exhibit apophony, and tip-top is an apophonic reduplication.[1]
Derived terms
editTranslations
editalternation of sounds within a word — see ablaut