svarabhakti
[sfahr-ah-bahk-tee; Sanskrit svuh-ruh-buhk-ti]
- the process of inserting vowel sounds into a consonant cluster, as in a loanword to make it conform to the pattern of the speaker's language and, hence, more easily pronounceable, as in the Italian pronunciation [lahn-tsee-ke-nek-kaw] /ˌlɑn tsi kɛˈnɛk kɔ/ for German Landsknecht [lahnts-knekht] /ˈlɑntsˌknɛxt/.
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Compare epenthesis.
Origin of svarabhakti
1875–80; < Sanskrit: vowel segment (inserted in particular environments)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018