metaphony

noun

me·​taph·​o·​ny mə-ˈta-fə-nē 

plural metaphonies

: the change of a vowel sound brought about by assimilation to a preceding or following vowel

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French métaphonie, from méta- meta- + -phonie -phony

Note: The term was apparently introduced in Grammaire comparée des langues indo-européennes (Paris, 1866-74), a translation by the French linguist Michel Bréal of Franz Bopp's Vergleichende Grammatik des Sanskrit, Send, Armenischen, Griechischen, Lateinischen, Litauischen, Altslavischen, Gothischen und Deutschen, 2. Ausgabe, 1857-61. In tome 5, the index volume, compiled by Francis Meunier, a footnote is appended to the word apophonie, Bréal's translation of German Ablaut ablaut: "Il vaudrait peut-être mieux employer le terme de métaphonie" ("It would perhaps be better to use the term metaphony [i.e., in place of apophony]").

First Known Use

1852, in the meaning defined above