| 释义 |
ep·en·the·sis
\ə̇ˈpen(t)thəsə̇s, eˈp-\ noun
(plural epenthe·ses \-əˌsēz\)
Etymology: Late Latin, from Greek, from epentithenai to insert a letter, from epi- + entithenai to put in, from en- en- (II) + tithenai to put, place — more at do
1. : the occurrence of an intercalated consonant (as a homorganic stop after a nasal consonant) or vowel in a succession of speech sounds without a counterpart in etymon or in orthography (as \t\ in \ˈfents\ fence; \ə\ in \ˈathəˌlēt\ athlete)
2. : an insertion of a letter in a word to make spelling conform to epenthetic pronunciation (as b in nimble, earlier nimel) — compare anaptyxis |