EPENTHESIS

ARRANGED BY GROUP 8

1.      ELIYA NURUL AINI (152301784)

2.      SITI FITRI MARDIAH (152301793)

3.      UNDI SITI SUTIAWATI (152301795)

A.    Definition Of Epenthesis

In phonology and phonetics, epenthesis is the insertion of an extra sound into a word. Adjective: epenthetic. Verb: epenthesize. Also known as intrusion or anaptyxis. According to some linguists, "vowel epenthesis is often motivated by the need to make consonant contrasts more distinct" (The Handbook of Speech Perception, 2005). Epenthesis is the insertion of a vowel to break up a cluster. The speed of movement needed to produce a transition from one consonant to another a cluster can be slowed by the insertion of a vowel. The inserted vowel is typically (neutral vowel).

Examples: blue /blu/ → /bəlu/ (syllable-initial cluster affected) film /fɪlm/ → /fɪləm/ (syllable-final cluster affected)

B.     Epenthesis may be devided into two types:

1.      Excrescence (if the sound added is a consonant)

Epenthetic sounds are not always vowels. For example, consider the two indefinite articles a and an. We know that a is used before consonant sounds and an is used before vowel sounds. We may view this [n] as an epenthetic sound that breaks up a sequence of two vowels: a apple – an apple." (Anita K. Berry, Linguistic Perspectives on Language and Education. Greenwood, 2002)

Other example : French messager, passager > English messenger, passenger

English family>fambly

A consonant may be added to separate vowel in hiatus. This is  the case with lingking and intrusive R.

Example : drawing > drawring

A consonant may be placed between consonants on a consonant cluster where the palce of articulation is different (e.g. where one consonant is labial and the other is alveolar).

Example : something, somepthing, a-mrotos, ambrotos

2.      Anaptyxis (if the sound added is vowel)

The production of clusters is a complex procedure. It requires rapid movements of the vocal apparatus ensure smooth transitions from one consonant to another. For the very young child, sequences of consonants may be too difficult to pronounce in rapid succession. Consequently, a vowel – typically a schwa – may inserted to break up a two-consonant cluster. An example of this would be the word grow /grəʊ/ being as /gərəʊ/ where the schwa vowel /ə/ is inserted between the two consonants that form the initial /gr-/ of the word. Once inserted, the vowel is referred to as the epenthetic vowel. The effect of this insertion create a slight hiatus between the two consonants of the cluster, thereby easing the pressure on the vital rapidity of movement. Further examples of epenthesis include the following.

play /pleɪ/ → /pəleɪ/

brick /brɪk/ → /bərɪk/

snow /snəʊ/ → /sənəʊ/

As in the above examples, epenthesis typically affects clusters that occur in syllable-initial position clusters in syllable-final position can also be affected but this is much more limited, e.g. film /fɪlm/ → /fɪləm/ milk /mɪlk/ → /mɪlək/

A vowel may be placed between consonants to separate them

Example: hamtramck, hamtramick

C.    Uses Of Epenthesis

Epenthesis arises for a variety of  reasons such as separating vowels, bridging consonant cluster, breaking consonat clusters. The phonotacticts of a given language may discourage vovels in hiatus or consonat clusters, and a consonant or vowel maybe added to make pronunciation easier.