enclitic

American  

[en-klit-ik] / ɛnˈklɪt ɪk /

adjective

1. (of a word) closely connected in pronunciation with the preceding word and not having an independent accent or phonological status.

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noun

1. an enclitic word, as Latin que “and” in arma virumque, “arms and the man.”

enclitic British  

/ ɪnˈklɪtɪk /

adjective

1. 1. denoting or relating to a monosyllabic word or form that is treated as a suffix of the preceding word, as Latin -que in populusque

   2. (in classical Greek) denoting or relating to a word that throws an accent back onto the preceding word

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noun

1. an enclitic word or linguistic form

Other Word Forms

• enclitically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of enclitic

1650–60; < Late Latin encliticus < Greek enklitikós, equivalent to en- en- ² + klít ( os ) slope + -ikos -ic

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

enclitic

“And yet,” which must be read, anyĕt, is an instance of the enclitic force in an accented monosyllable.

From Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher by Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

Enclitics, accent of preceding syllable, 6, 3. —— -met, 84, 2; —— -pte, 86, 3; —— cum as enclitic, 142, 4 End of motion, see Limit.

From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)

The pronominal compounds; herein, therein, wherein, &c.; in which the former term is a substitute, and virtually governed by the enclitic particle.

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold

But if the syllable still remains short after the enclitic has been added, it is not accented unless the word originally took the accent on the antepenult.

From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)

In this system of spelling the circumflex is omitted when these words are enclitic.

From A Handbook of the Cornish Language chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature by Jenner, Henry