Synizesis is a sound change

Sound change

Sound change includes any processes of language change that affect pronunciation or sound system structures...

 (metaplasm

Metaplasm

A metaplasm is a change in the orthography of a word. Originally it referred to techniques used in Ancient Greek and Latin poetry, or processes in those languages' grammar.-Sound change:...

) in which two originally syllabic

Syllable

A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...

 vowel

Vowel

In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...

s are pronounced as a single syllable without change in writing. In Latin and Greek, this was often to preserve meter

Meter (poetry)

In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study of metres and forms of versification is known as prosody...

, but similar changes occur naturally in languages.

A tie

Tie (typography)

The tie is a symbol in the shape of an arc similar to a large breve, used in Ancient Greek, phonetic alphabets, and Z notation. It can be used between two characters with spacing as punctuation, or non-spacing as a diacritic...

 may be used to represent this pronunciation: dē͡hinc (i.e., deinc).

Greek

Homer

Homer

In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...

:

Iliad Iliad The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...  1.1-2	μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδε͡ω Ἀχιλῆος
	οὐλομένην
	Mênin áeide theā̀ Pēlēïáde͡ō Akhilêos
	ouloménēn

Latin

Vergil's Aeneid

Aeneid

The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...

:

1.41	ūnĭus ob noxam Elision Elision is the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce... et furiās Aiācis Oīlē͡ī?
1.131	Eurum Elision Elision is the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce... ad sē Zephyrumque vocat, dē͡hinc tālia fātur
6.412	dēturbat laxatque forōs; simul accipit alve͡ō

Etymology

Greek "a sitting together", from "with" and "I sit".

See also

• Metaplasm
  Metaplasm
  A metaplasm is a change in the orthography of a word. Originally it referred to techniques used in Ancient Greek and Latin poetry, or processes in those languages' grammar.-Sound change:...
  
  
  • Synalepha
    Synalepha
    A synalepha or synaloepha is the merging of two syllables into one, especially when it causes two words to be pronounced as one.The original meaning in Greek is more general than modern usage, and also includes coalescence of vowels within a word...
    
    
    • Elision
      Elision
      Elision is the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce...
      
      
      • Contraction (grammar)
        Contraction (grammar)
        A contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters....
        
        
    • Crasis
      Crasis
      Crasis is a type of contraction in which two vowels or diphthongs merge into one new vowel or diphthong — making one word out of two. Crasis occurs in Portuguese and Arabic as well as in Ancient Greek, where it was first described.-French:...
      
      
    • Synaeresis
      Synaeresis
      In linguistics, synaeresis or syneresis is a sound change by which two vowels are pronounced together rather than separately...