compensatory lengthening

English

WOTD – 2 February 2022

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɒmpɛnˈseɪtəɹi ˈlɛŋ(k)θ(ə)nɪŋ/, /kɒmˈpɛnsətəɹi-/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpɛnsəˌtɔɹi ˈlɛŋ(k)θənɪŋ/
• Hyphenation: com‧pen‧sat‧o‧ry length‧en‧ing

Noun

compensatory lengthening (countable and uncountable, plural compensatory lengthenings)

Example
In many non-rhotic British dialects of English, the /ɹ/ from art (/ɑɹt/) is dropped but the /ɑ/ is compensatorily lengthened, resulting in /ɑːt/.

1. (phonology, uncountable) The lengthening of a vowel sound which occurs when a following consonant is lost, regarded as an extreme form of fusion; (countable) an instance of this.

Derived terms

• compensatorily lengthen

Translations

lengthening of a vowel sound which occurs when a following consonant is lost

• Catalan: allargament compensatori m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 補償性延長 / 补偿性延长 (bǔchángxìngyáncháng), 補償延長 / 补偿延长 (bǔchángyáncháng), 代償延長 / 代偿延长 (dàichángyáncháng)

• Czech: náhradní dloužení n
• Dutch: compensatierekking f, compensatorische rekking f, vergoedingsrekking (nl) f
• Finnish: kompensoiva pidennys
• French: allongement compensatoire m
• German: Ersatzdehnung f
• Greek: αναπληρωματική έκταση (el) f (anapliromatikí éktasi), αντέκταση (el) f (antéktasi), αντισταθμιστική επιμήκυνση f (antistathmistikí epimíkynsi)
• Japanese: 代償延長 (だいしょうえんちょう, daishōenchō)
• Korean: 보상적 장음화 (bosangjeok jang'eumhwa)
• Polish: wzdłużenie zastępcze n
• Romanian: prelungire compensatoare f
• Russian: компенса́торное удлине́ние n (kompensátornoje udlinénije), замести́тельное удлине́ние n (zamestítelʹnoje udlinénije)
• Spanish: alargamiento compensatorio m
• Swedish: ersättningsförlängning

Further reading

• compensatory lengthening on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “compensatory lengthening”, in Collins English Dictionary.