Good morning. I have a new word to share with you today (at least, it’s new to me). The word is apocope (pronounced uh-POK-uh-pee). It originates from a Greek word meaning “to cut off.” That’s a hint. Can you guess what it might mean to us English speakers?
If you guess the truncation (the cutting off or shortening) of words, you are correct! Apocope is the omission of one or more letters, sounds, or syllables from the end of a word. I’ll give you some examples of how apocope has influenced the evolution of words from Old English (before 1100 A.D) and Middle English (1150–1500 A.D), and then I’ll provide some more recent examples.
The Old English words singan and lufu evolved into the words we now use: sing and love.
In Middle English, we used to pronounce the final e in the words roote and sweete, but we’ve dropped that final sound in modern English.
And as I mentioned, it’s not just an evolutionary event. We currently use apocope to shorten many words. Here are some examples that I’m sure you’ll recognize:
- advertisement > ad
- abdominal (muscles) > abs
- barbeque > barbie (chiefly Australian)
- decaffeinated > decaf
- demonstration > demo
- obituary > obit
- photograph > photo
- zoological (garden) > zoo
We also use apocope when we shorten people’s names:
- Barbara > Barb
- Curtis > Curt
- Deborah > Deb
- Jennifer > Jen
- Michael > Mike
- Robert > Rob
- Zachary > Zach
All this time, I’ve been apocopating, and I didn’t even know it. I wonder what else I’ve been doing that I’m not aware of?!
Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry
Pronouns she/her/hers
Remote – CA
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Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.
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