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Definition 2024


compensatory_lengthening

compensatory lengthening

English

Noun

compensatory lengthening (uncountable)

  1. (linguistics) The lengthening of a vowel sound which occurs when a following consonant is lost, an extreme form of fusion exhibited for example by many non-rhotic British dialects of English, which drop the /ɹ/ from /ɑɹt/ but compensatorily lengthen the /ɑ/, resulting in /ɑːt/ ("art").

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