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

A very important word may be enclitic, as in English don't, shan't.

From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg

Properly based Oun—130 Gave us the doctrine of the enclitic De, Dead from the waist down.

From Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning by Myra Reynolds

The blemishes in The Grammarian's Funeral—hoti's business, the enclitic de—were stimulants; they heightened his effects.

From Emerson and Other Essays by John Jay Chapman

“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 Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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 Charles E. (Charles Edwin) Bennett