Synizesis () is a sound change (metaplasm) in which two originally syllabic vowels (hiatus) are pronounced instead as a single syllable.; In poetry, the vowel contraction would often be necessitated by the metrical requirements of the poetic form. Synizesis is also understood to occur as a natural product in the evolution of a language over time.Déniz 2013.
A tie may be used to represent this pronunciation: dē͡hinc (i.e., deinc).
Definition Synizesis comes from the Greek (synízēsis, "a sitting together") from (syn, "with") and (hizō, "I sit"). The term was used to describe this vowel change as early as the 2nd century CE, by the Alexandrian grammarian, Hephaestion.
Ancient grammarians, such as Hephaestion, defined synizesis broadly as the “σύλληψις” (syllepsis, “a taking together (of sounds)”) of any two syllables.Hephaestion 1553: 79. More contemporary scholarship has, however, recognised that, when so constructed, synizesis is given an unjustifiably broad meaning. Synizesis is now confined to describing the fusion of two adjacent syllabic vowels. It may occur within a word, or at the boundary between words.Radford, Robert S. (1905). "Plautine Synizesis: A Study of the Phenomena of Brevis Coalescens". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 36: 166; Hephaestion 1553: 79.
There is disagreement as to the definition of synizesis in three areas. First, scholars disagree whether synizesis exists when a word’s spelling changes. The initial presumption was that synizesis occasions no change in spelling, but this requirement has been ignored and criticised.Battezzato 2000: 67; Radford, Robert S. (1908). “Notes on Latin Synizesis”. Classical Philology. 3 (2): 155-157. Second, though synizesis has been understood as a process of desyllabification, some scholars contend that vowels that have been fused together are not truly monosyllabic.Radford 1905: 179; Battezzato 2000: 55. Third, it is unclear whether the deletion of one of the two vowel sounds may be considered synizesis.Plett 2010: 99; Rumanék, Ivan (2004). “Phonetic Fusions in Japanese”. Asian and African Studies. 13 (1): 88. That is typically described as synalepha or elision.Kozasa, Tomoko (2000). G. Sibley, N. Ochner and K. Russell (ed.). “Moraic Tetrameter in Japanese Poetry”. Proceedings 2000: Selected Papers from the 4th College-wide Conference for Students in Languages, Linguistics and Literature. Honolulu: National Foreign Language Research Center. pp. 9–11. These disagreements come as a result of the fact that languages rarely have a means of distinguishing between hiatic and synizetic pronunciation via their script.Miller, Roy Andrew (2002). "The Middle Mongolian Vocalic Hiatus". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 55 (1–3): 180.
To avoid these definitional inconsistencies, “synecphonesis” has been suggested as an all-encompassing replacement to synizesis, but has not entered popular use.West, M. L. (1982). Greek Metre. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 12-14; Gerber, Douglas (1999). “Pindar, Nemean Six: A Commentary”. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. 99: 64; Battezzato 2000: 67.
Prosody
Ancient Greek
Epic Greek
Homer, Iliad 1.1: μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδε͡ω Ἀχιλῆος Mênin áeide theā̀ Pēlēïáde͡ō AkhilêosSing, goddess, the wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus
There exists synizesis in the ending of “Πηληϊάδεω”, with the -εω final two syllables being condensed into one.Benner, Allen Rogers (1904). A Short Homeric Grammar. New York: D. Appleton & Company. p. 358. This allows the resultant syllable to be read as the long syllable of a dactyl in “-ε͡ω Ἀχι-”. However, beyond merely being necessary to form the dactyl, this synizesis may be a conscious and intentional sound technique. For instance, it has been suggested that the metrical peculiarity and difficult pronunciation of the final two words lend a tension and foreboding to the line.Stanford, William (1981). “Sound, Sense, and Music in Greek Poetry”. Greece and Rome. 28 (2): 135–136.
Attic Greek Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus:
1003 καί σοι τὸ Θησέ͡ως ὄνομα θωπεῦσαι καλόνKaí soi tò Thēsé͡ōs ónoma thōpeûsai kalón And to you it seems noble to flatter renowned Theseus1103Θησέ͡ως ἔσωσαν φιλτάτων τ᾽ ὀπαόνων Thēsé͡ōs ésōsan philtátōn t' opaónōn(The arms) of Theseus and his much beloved companions saved us
Particularly in the prosody of Attic tragedy, patterns have been observed as to the recurrence of synizesis in particular positions. Johannes Rumpel noted that, in iambic trimeter, synizesis frequently occurs at either the arsis (second syllable) of the first foot, or the thesis (first syllable) of the third foot.Rumpel, J. (1867). “Zur synizesis bei den tragikern”. Philologus. 26: 248. See also Lynch, Tosca (2016). “Arsis and Thesis in Ancient Rhythmics and Metrics: A New Approach”. Classical Quarterly. 66 (2): 502. The word "Θησέως" (Thēséōs, "of Theseus") appears in lines 1003 and 1103 of Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus, and illustrates Rumpel's findings.Rumpel 1867: 248. His findings have subsequently been affirmed and developed.Battezzato 2000: 55.
There are three notable exceptions to this rule. The first occurs in the case of certain compound words, such as Νεοπτόλεμος (Neoptólemos), occurring in Sophocles and in Euripides,Sophocles, Philoctetes, 4; Euripides, Andromache, 14; Euripides, The Trojan Women, 1126. and λεωφόρου (leōfórou, "highway"), occurring in Euripides.Euripides, Rhesus, 881. Such compound words, despite falling in the theorised categories, do not undergo synizesis, as they do not fit the metre.Rumpel 1867: 249. Second, the word πόλεως (póleōs, "of the city"), is also a notable exception to this rule, as it is more frequently pronounced in synizesis, regardless of the foot in which it falls.Rumpel 1867: 250. This is because the word was commonly pronounced synizetically (that is to say, disyllabically) in everyday speech.Descroix, J. (1931). Le Trimètre iambique des iambographes à la comedie nouvelle. Mâcon. p. 34. Additionally, the hiatic πόλεως is anapaestic ( ˘ ˘ ¯ ), which does not suit iambic trimeter.Battezzato 2000: 56. Third, disyllabic words (that would be made monosyllabic by synizesis), such as θεός (theós, "god") do not follow this rule.Rumpel 1867: 244. θεός was only rarely pronounced monosyllabically until its popularity in Euripides' trimeter.Battezzato 2000: 64; See also Butterfield, D. J. (2008). "Metrical Constraints and the Interpretation of Style in the Tragic Trimeter". The Classical Review. 58 (2): 350.
Greek Lyric Synizesis has also been observed in Ancient Greek lyric poetry, and shares similarities with both Epic and Tragic Greek. For example, in Pindar, Nemean Ode VI, ἐπηετατόν (epēetatón, "lasting all through the year") (line 10) undergoes synizesis in "ηε" similar to what occurs in Hesiod.Gerber 1999: 53. In the Pythian Ode IV of Pindar, line 250 contains the word "Πελιαοφόνον" (Peliaophónon, "killer of Pelias"). Though contractions would ordinarily be frequent with three adjacent vowels, the vowels are pronounced separately here.Braswell, Bruce (1980). “Three Linguistic Notes on Pindar”. Glotta. 58 (3): 221. This is consistent with the observations made of Greek tragedy, that long compound nouns often do not undergo synizesis.Rumpel 1867: 249.
Latin Vergil, Aeneid:
1.41 ūnĭus ob noxam et furiās Aiācis Oīlē͡ī?Because of the guilt and madness of one man, Ajax, son of Oileus? 1.131 Eurum ad sē Zephyrumque vocat, dē͡hinc tālia fāturHe calls the east and west winds to him, and then says... 6.412 dēturbat laxatque forōs; simul accipit alve͡ōHe threw them down and cleared the gangways; and received on board... In the first and third examples, the final two vowels undergo synizesis in order to form the anceps at the end of the line. -ei would be pronounced as a diphthong (this diphthong exists ordinarily in Latin, albeit never in a word final position, but for in Greek names as here), and -eo with a glide, giving [jo].Vergil (1972). Williams, R. Deryck (ed.). Aeneid I-VI. London: Bristol Classical Press: 163, 484. In the second example, a dactylic fifth foot (-cāt dĕhĭnc) is impossible, as de- and -hinc are both long syllables. As such, the only possible construction involves the synizetic reduction of “dehinc”.Vergil 1972: 171. Note synizesis is still possible here, though the vowels are not adjacent, as the Latin /h/ phoneme was not a strong consonant.
Poetry of the Old Latin period had different conventions for synizesis. In Augustan poetry, the syllable being obscured or suppressed by synizesis was unstressed.Radford 1905: 168; Exon 1910: 123. For example, in "alveō" ("in the hollow"), the stress lies on the first syllable, and the unstressed second syllable joins with the third in synizesis.Vergil 1972: 484. However, in Plautine Latin, the syllable suppressed by synizesis was stressed, such as in "meō" ("my"), where the stress lies on the "e". The consequence of this is that no two unstressed syllables may undergo synizesis in old Latin.Radford 1905: 201. Plautine synizesis frequently occurs in the case of proclitics and enclitics, minor words which do not naturally demand stress, however also occurs in the case of substantive and emphatic nouns and verbs, such as "deō" ("for god") and "sciō" ("I know").Radford 1905: 210. What has been argued to be important, however, is not the word itself, but its context and function in the sentence. Substantive nouns may yet be subordinate to more important words in the sentence, and as such may be "[unable] to resist slurring".Radford 1908: 158–160.
Japanese Though it has been argued that a Eurocentric approach of analysing Japanese poetry in terms of "lines" and "metre" may be inappropriate, synizesis has nevertheless been understood to occur. While hypermetric (and hypometric) lines occur in various forms of Japanese poetry, a reading which shortens (or lengthens) the line is preferable. This may lead to either elision or synizesis.Rumanék 2004: 99.
Sosei Hōshi, Hyakunin Isshu 21:Miyata, Haruo (trans.) (1981). The Ogura Anthology of Japanese Waka. Osaka: Osaka Kyoiku Tosho. p. 29. 今来むと Ima kon to You would come anon,いひしばかりに Iishi bakari ni You said, and because you did,長月の Nagatsuki noThis September night有明の月を Ari͡ake no tsuki oSat I up for you, till there待ち出でつるかな Machi idetsuru kana Did I see the moon at dawn The penultimate line would appear hypermetric in having eight syllables, exceeding the seven syllables accorded to it following the form of waka poetry.Morris 1986: 573. Such a line is known as ji-amari.Morris 1986: 592. However, if "有明" (ariake, "dawn") is read instead as [arjake] or [arʲake], with the [i] vowel devocalised and pronounced alternatively as a glide, the metre may be maintained.Kozasa 2000: 9-11. Such a reduction, though not the complete deletion of a vowel (as if 有明 were pronounced [areke]), is sufficient to constitute synizesis.Plett 2010: 99.
In etymology
Romance languages As classical Latin evolved into vulgar Latin, common synizetic pronunciations began to be reflected in spelling, giving such forms as dende for deinde ("then"), dis for dies ("day") and sa for sua ("your").Radford 1908: 156. This synizetic vowel reduction in order to avoid hiatus continued through to the evolution of the Romance languages. For instance, the Italian derivative of Latin trisyllabic habeo ("I have") is disyllabic abbio, where the final -eo changed to the glide as in /jo/, written as -io.Déniz 2013. Though such words as oriente ("east") and gloria ("glory") which derive from Latin may once have been pronounced to preserve the hiatic Latinate pronunciation, that is not strictly observed, and synizetic pronunciation is the more popular alternative.Treves, Marco (1947). "Remarks on Italian Phonetics". Italica. 24 (1): 66.