hiatuses

Hiatus is a term used across disciplines to denote a gap, opening, or pause. Derived from the Latin hiatus, meaning an opening or gap, the word is used in linguistics, medicine, and everyday language to describe a break or interruption. Plural forms include hiatuses or hiati.

In linguistics, hiatus refers to a break between two vowel sounds that occur in adjacent syllables with no intervening consonant. This results in two syllables rather than a diphthong or elided sequence. Whether two vowels form a hiatus or a single syllable depends on phonology, orthography, and language-specific rules. In some languages, diacritics or punctuation indicate hiatus to show that the vowels belong to separate syllables; in others, syllable boundaries are determined by stress and vowel quality. An example often cited is the Spanish word país, pronounced pa-ís, where the two vowels form a hiatus.

In anatomy, a hiatus is a natural opening or passage through a structure, such as the diaphragmatic openings that allow the esophagus (esophageal hiatus), the aorta (aortic hiatus), and the inferior vena cava (caval hiatus) to pass between the thorax and abdomen. These openings are normally present, but conditions like hiatal hernia can involve abnormal displacement of tissues through a hiatus.

In general usage, a hiatus also denotes a temporary pause or break in activity, production, or communication. A television series, for example, may go on hiatus between seasons, or a researcher may take a hiatus from publishing. The term thus encompasses both specific technical meanings and broader sense of interruption.