# Vowel deletion



## larshgf

If you have two adjacent words, the first with a vowel in the end, and the second starting with a vowel, often one of these two vowels is deleted in speach.
What is the "down to earth" rules for this vowel deletion?


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## ioanell

larshgf said:


> If you have two adjacent words, the first with a vowel in the end, and the second starting with a vowel, often one of these two vowels is deleted in speach.
> What is the "down to earth" rules for this vowel deletion?



The first grammatical phenomenon is called "έκθλιψη": it is the expulsion / omission of the final vowel of a word, when the next word starts with a vowel, e.g.  με άλλους > μ' άλλους. It is usually encountered in oral speech and in written texts having elements of orality. In the latter case, the sign of apostrophe is put in the place of the expelled letter, e.g. από όλους > απ' όλους. The words most usually suffering έκθλιψη are the articles το, του, τα, the particles θα, να, the pronouns με, σε, το, τα and the prepositions από, με, σε, για. 
The second grammatical phenomenon is called "αφαίρεση": it is the expulsion / ommission of the starting vowel of a word, when the previous word ends in a vowel. The sign of apostrophe is put in the place of the omitted letter, e.g. θα έρθει > θα ΄ρθει.


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## Αγγελος

I would add that α is elided only before another α, ο before an α or another o, ι hardly ever. The final -ε of the imperative singular is often elided before an object pronoun beginning with a τ: φέρ' το, πάρ' τα for φέρε το, πάρε τα.
The augment (the initial ε- or other added vowel of the imperfect and aorist) is often dropped (aphaeresis) after an object pronoun: μου ΄φερες, τα 'δωσε, του 'γραψα for μου έφερε, τα έδωσε, του έγραψα -- and even του 'πα, μου 'ρθε, το 'χω for του είπα, μου ήρθε, το έχω.


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## διαφορετικός

Αγγελος said:


> μου ΄φερες, τα 'δωσε, του 'γραψα for μου έφερε, τα έδωσε, του έγραψα


Is it true that the pronoun in these shortened expressions should be pronounced with increased stress, as if the pronoun got the stress of the (dropped) augment, or as if the examples were written as follows:
μούφερες, τάδωσε, τούγραψα
?


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## Perseas

διαφορετικός said:


> μούφερες, τάδωσε, τούγραψα


Yes, that's the pronunciation, but isn't that the same as this?


διαφορετικός said:


> the pronoun in these shortened expressions should be pronounced with increased stress


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## διαφορετικός

Perseas said:


> Yes, that's the pronunciation, but isn't that the same as this?


Thank you for the confirmation.
Yes, I expressed almost the same thing in two different ways.
Well, I was not completely sure if the pronouns get _less_ pronunciation stress in the non-shortened forms (μου έφερε, τα έδωσε, του έγραψα).


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## Perseas

διαφορετικός said:


> (μου έφερε, τα έδωσε, του έγραψα).


In these forms the stress is on the antepenultimate syllable of the verbs (μου *έ*φερε, τα *έ*δωσε, του *έ*γραψα).


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## Αγγελος

Ιn the non-shortened forms (μου έφερε, τα έδωσε, του έγραψα), the pronouns are not stressed at all.


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