Epenthesis & Anaptyxis
Epenthesis and Anaptyxis walked into a bar and confused the hell out of everyone.
This week’s new words are wonderful. Simply wonderful. Or should I say they’re “wonderaful”?
Epenthesis (eh-penth-e-sis) is the adding of a vowel or sound to a word in order to facilitate pronunciation. Like “es-top” or “stop-e(h)”. Or “bu-lue”.
More spectacularly, the addition of the vowel in epenthesis has a specific name: (you guessed it!) anaptyxis (an-app-tu-sis). Think of Yogi Bear telling BooBoo he’s going to get that “pic-a-nic” basket. That’s epenthesis and anaptyxis in action.
What’s even more fun is when Epenthesis and Anaptyxis are out drinking and they run into and are mesmerized by Paragoge. Paragoge also goes by the name Proparalepsis. (Can you tell I love this stuff?)
Paragoge/Proparalepsis “refers to the annexing of an expletive syllable”. In some cases, you can think of it as a nickname for words and, (ed: er…um…) names. Like “Johnny, for John;” “deary, for dear;” “withouten, for without.” (ed: Or my personal favorite “broughten, for brought.”)
When someone asks me “what kind of weirdo are you?” I’m the kind of weirdo who loves this shit. And that’s the honest to God truth. I’m also just a huge ol’ word nerd.
Stay tuned for more words I’ve encountered which have charmed and enchanted me. I have a list. Yeah, an actual list.
Feel free to share words of your own in the comments section.
We like to play and butcher words in our house too. Or come up with names to call each other, like “nincompoop” or “snicklefritz”, often directed at AJ when he starts acting like a 14yo.
Comment by diamond dave — 2023/10/26 @ 17:21
Try no-goodnik. That one always makes me smile.
I can’t believe AJ is 14!!! How did that happen? Our kids are supposed to reach “the perfect age” and develop the perfect attitude, character, etc., & them just stop.
Wait…huh…hold on…I guess my kids haven’t reached that point yet.
But seriously, I’m so happy to know AJ is growing up and getting to be a regular teenager. My condolences to you, though.
Comment by Da Goddess — 2023/10/31 @ 10:55
I love words as well… but I don’t know what the heck this is! LOL!!
Comment by pam — 2023/11/10 @ 04:59
I had to read through it again… that’s what getting old does to you!
Fun!
Comment by pam — 2023/11/10 @ 05:00
It’s crazy how fun words can be! I love expanding my vocabulary. When I was much younger, I would read the dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedias FOR FUN.
At heart, I’m a total word nerd and always have been. I wear it proudly.
Comment by Da Goddess — 2023/11/15 @ 08:49