svarabhakti

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

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌsvɑɹəˈbɑkti/, /ˌswɑɹəˈbɑkti/

svarabhakti (usually uncountable, plural svarabhaktis)

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

• Originally used in Sanskrit grammar terminology for vowels phonetically inserted between /r/ or /l/ and a following consonant, but nowadays also applied to other languages.

• vyanjanabhakti