considerably depending on the dialect or level of formality. A few examples (slightly exaggerated; apostrophes added to indicate elision): 松下さんはいますか？ Matsushita-san wa imasu ka? ("Is Mr. Matsushita in?") Pronounced: matsush'tasanwa imas'ka 失礼します Shitsurei shimasu ("Excuse me") Pronounced: sh'tsureishimas' Gender roles also influence elision in Japanese. It is considered masculine to elide, especially the final u of the polite verb forms (-masu, desu), but women are traditionally encouraged to do the opposite. However, excessive elision is generally associated with lower prestige, and inadequate elision is seen as overly fussy or old-fashioned. Some nonstandard dialects, such as Satsuma-ben, are known for their extensive elision. It is common for successive o sounds to be reduced to a single o sound, as is frequently encountered when the particle を (wo/o) is followed by the beautifying or honorific お (o). Latin Latin poetry featured frequent elision, with syllables being dropped to fit the meter or for euphony. Words ending in vowels would elide with the following word if it started with a vowel or h; words ending with -m would also be elided in the same way (this is called ecthlipsis). In writing, unlike in Greek, this would not be shown, with the normal spelling of the word represented. For instance, line 5 of Virgil's Aeneid is written as "", even though it would be pronounced as "". Other examples of elision in Latin literature include: Virgil's Aeneid Book I, Line 3: " " is pronounced " ", where " " comprises three long syllables, or one and a half spondees. Virgil's Aeneid Book I, Line 11: " " is pronounced " ", where " " comprises three long syllables and two short syllables. Ovid's Metamorphoses Book III, Line 557: " " is pronounced " ", where " " comprises two short syllables and a long syllable. Ovid's Amores Book III, Poem VI, Line 101: " " is pronounced " ". Catullus 73 line 6, "", has elision connecting the final six words together. Caecilius Statius's Ephesio (quoted in Cicero's Cato Maior de Senectute 25) has the line: "" where there is elision between every word. A line from Lucilius (600 Marx; 728 Warmington) similarly has elision connecting all its words: "". Malayalam Dropping sounds in connected speech by native speakers is very common in this language from Kerala, southern India. For example, entha becomes ntha and ippol becomes ippo. Spanish The change of Latin