In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the beginning syllable (prothesis) or in the ending syllable (paragoge) or in-between two syllabic sounds in a word. The word epenthesis comes from "in addition to" and en- "in" and thesis "putting". Epenthesis may be divided into two types: excrescence for the addition of a consonant, and for the addition of a vowel, svarabhakti (in Hindi, Bengali and other North Indian languages, stemming from Sanskrit) or alternatively anaptyxis (). The opposite process, where one or more sounds are removed, is referred to as elision. Uses Epenthesis arises for a variety of reasons. The phonotactics of a given language may discourage vowels in hiatus or consonant clusters, and a consonant or vowel may be added to make pronunciation easier. Epenthesis may be represented in writing, or it may be a feature only of the spoken language. Separating vowels A consonant may be added to separate vowels in hiatus, as is the case with linking and intrusive R in English. drawing → draw-r-ing Bridging consonant clusters A consonant may be placed between consonants in a consonant cluster where the place of articulation is different (such as if one consonant is labial and the other is alveolar). something → somepthing hamster → hampster *a-mrotos → ambrotos (see below) Breaking consonant clusters A vowel may be placed between consonants to separate them. Hamtramck → Hamtramick Other contexts While epenthesis most often occurs between two vowels or two consonants, it can also occur between a vowel and a consonant or at the ends of words. For example, the Japanese prefix transforms regularly to when it is followed by a consonant, as in . The English suffix , often found in the form , as in (from + ), is an example of terminal excrescence. Excrescence Excrescence is the epenthesis of a consonant. Historical sound change Latin > French ("to tremble") Old English > English thunder French , > English messenger, passenger French , > Portuguese , (Reconstructed) Proto-Germanic > Old English , Old Saxon ("to sow") (Reconstructed) Proto-Greek > Ancient Greek ("immortal"; cf. ambrosia) Latin > homne > homre > Spanish ("man") Synchronic rule In French, is inserted in inverted interrogative phrases between a verb ending in a vowel and a pronoun beginning with a vowel: ('he has') > ('has he?'). There is no epenthesis from