svarabhakti

Borrowed from Sanskrit स्वरभक्ति (svára-bhakti, “vowel separation”), a compound of स्वर (svára, “vowel”) + भक्ति (bhaktí, “separation”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌsvʌɹəˈbɑːkti/, /ˌswʌɹəˈbɑːkti/, /-bʌkti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌsvɑɹəˈbɑkti/, /ˌswɑɹəˈbɑkti/

svarabhakti (usually uncountable, plural svarabhaktis)

1. (linguistics, phonology) The epenthesis of a vowel, as in the football chant Engerland for England; anaptyxis.

   Svarabhakti is a common feature of northern Indian languages such as Hindi and Bengali.

• This term was originally a term of art for vowels phonetically inserted between /r/ or /l/ and a following consonant in Sanskrit; in modern use, it is used for any vowel insertion, regardless of the language or phonetic context.

• svarabhaktic

• vyanjanabhakti