Rövidülése

Rövidülése, literally “shortening,” is a phonological process in languages in which a segment—usually a vowel or a consonant—reduces its duration and becomes shorter. It can occur synchronically as part of a language’s phonology, or diachronically as a historical sound change that alters the phonemic inventory or rhythm of a language. The result is often a shift in timing, tempo, and prosody, sometimes accompanied by changes in syllable structure or stress patterns.

The main types of rövidülése include vowel shortening, consonant shortening, and syllable shortening. Vowel shortening reduces the length contrast of vowels, for example shortening long vowels to short vowels in certain environments or in rapid speech. Consonant shortening involves a reduction in the duration of consonantal segments under specific conditions, such as in close or rapid speech. Syllable shortening refers to a decrease in the overall weight or moraic content of a syllable, which can influence syllabic rhythm and word stress.

Causes and environments for rövidülése are varied. It commonly arises from speech economy and ease of articulation, especially in fast or casual speech, in closed syllables, or before complex consonant clusters. Diachronic rövidülése can spread through a language due to assimilation, facilitation of faster pronunciation, or contact with neighboring languages, sometimes contributing to longer-term changes in phonology.

In orthography, rövidülése is distinct from rövidítés, which denotes abbreviation in writing. Rövidülése concerns spoken form and timing rather than written shortening. See also phonology, vowel length, consonant length, syllable, and historical linguistics.