noun
- Plural of hyphaeresis; the omission or loss of a sound or syllable from the middle of a word.
Usage: linguistics; rare; technical term
Examples
- Hyphaereses occur in many languages when speakers drop unstressed vowels.
- The study of hyphaereses helps linguists understand sound change in historical phonology.
- Examples of hyphaereses include the loss of the schwa in words like 'camera' pronounced as 'cam'ra'.