Sound change and alternation |
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Fortition |
Dissimilation |
Other types
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Paragoge /pærəˈɡoʊdʒiː/, adj. paragogic /pærəˈɡɒdʒɪk/, is the addition of a sound to the end of a word. Often, this is due to nativization. It is a type of epenthesis, most commonly vocalic epenthesis.
Some languages have undergone paragoge as a sound change, so that modern forms are longer than the historical forms they are derived from. Italian sono 'I am' from Latin SUM is an example. Sometimes, as here, the paragogic vowel is an echo vowel.
Languages that do not allow words to end in certain or any consonants will add a dummy vowel to the end of loanwords from other languages that include a forbidden final consonant. For example, English rack becomes Finnish räkki and Japanese rakku. Similarly, Arabic ‘araq ("water of life") became raki in Modern Greek.