Apophonic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to ablaut, the systematic alternation of vowels within a word's root that signals changes in grammatical tense or meaning
2. Describing the vowel shifts within a root, such as sing, sang, sung, that mark differences in tense, number or sense
3. Concerning the patterned change of root vowels in languages like English and German that expresses grammatical or semantic distinctions

Etymology: Apophonic describes changes in a word's internal vowel that alter its grammar or meaning, as in English "sing, sang, sung" or "drink, drank, drunk." The term is built from "apophony," itself a borrowing from the Greek "apophōnēsis," meaning a change in sound or tone, with the adjectival suffix "-ic" added on top. The first part, "apo-," is the Greek preposition meaning "away from" or "off," and "phōnē" means "sound" or "voice." Put together, the Greek noun described a sound turned away from its original form. Linguists adopted it as a technical label for this kind of vowel alternation, which is why the word feels so specialized: it names a pattern rather than an everyday object or idea.