In phonology, apocope (uh-POCK-uh-pee) is when a sound or sounds at the end of a word are omitted or deleted. This usually happens with the last vowel, but it can also involve the last consonant or even a whole syllable. For example, in spoken English, the "t" in the word "don't" is often left out in the phrase "I don't know," resulting in "I dunno." The word form that remains after apocope occurs is called an apocopation.

Etymology

The word "apocope" is from the Greek word ἀποκοπή (apokopḗ), which means "cutting off." This Greek word comes from ἀποκόπτειν (apokóptein), meaning "to cut." The word ἀποκόπτειν is made up of two parts: ἀπο- (apo-), meaning "away from," and κόπτειν (kóptein), meaning "to cut."

Historical sound change

In historical linguistics, the term apocope refers to the regular removal of final unstressed vowels and/or nasal consonants during language changes. This process often results in the loss or change of endings in words.

• Latin mare → Portuguese mar (sea)
• Latin pānem → Spanish pan (bread)
• Latin lupum → French loup (wolf)
• Latin cīvitātem → Italian città (city)
• Proto-Germanic landą → Old, Middle, and Modern English land
• Old English lufu → Modern English love (noun)
• Old English lufian → Modern English love (verb)
• Southern dialects of Māori often omit final unstressed vowels compared to standard Māori. For example, the word kainga (village) is said as kaik in southern Māori. A similar pattern appears in Gallo-Italic languages.
• Proto-Finnic litna → Estonian linn (city)
• Proto-Finnic litnan → Estonian linna (city's)
• In informal Finnish, the phrase suomeksi (in Finnish) is sometimes said as suomeks.

• Non-rhotic English accents, such as British Received Pronunciation, do not say the final "r" sound in each syllable (unless it is followed by a vowel). In many accents, the missing "r" changes the sound of the vowel before it.
• French pronunciation often omits the final consonant in most words. However, this consonant is usually pronounced as a liaison at the start of the next word in a sentence if the next word begins with a vowel or an "h" that is not aspirated.

Grammatical rule

Some languages use shortened forms of words that are required in certain situations. In Spanish, for example, some adjectives that come before a noun lose their final vowel or syllable when they are used with a noun that is masculine and singular. This also happens with some adverbs and numbers.

• Adjectives: grande ("big, great") becomes gran → gran mujer ("great woman"). If the adjective comes after the noun, the final syllable stays, and the meaning may change: mujer grande ("large woman"). Bueno ("good") becomes buen → buen hombre ("good man"). The final vowel remains in hombre bueno, and the meaning does not change.
• Adverbs: tanto ("so much") becomes tan ("so") → tan hermoso ("so beautiful").
• Cardinal numbers: uno ("one, a, an") becomes un → un niño ("a child"). Ciento ("hundred") becomes cien → Cien años de soledad ("One hundred years of solitude").
• Ordinal numbers: primero ("first") becomes primer → primer premio ("first prize"). Segundo ("second, according to") becomes segund → según → El evangelio según ("The Gospel according to"). Tercero ("third") becomes tercer → tercer lugar ("third place"). Postrero ("final") becomes postrer → postrer día ("final day").

Economy of expression

Apocope is a process where words are made shorter to save time or make them easier to say. This happens often in nicknames, such as changing "William" to "Will" or "Margery" to "Marge." It also appears in other words, like turning "fanatic" into "fan" or "laboratory" into "lab."