An ELT Glossary : Epenthesis



Definition : The addition of a phoneme to a word.

Examples :    The second potential pronunciation of each of the following words demonstrates epenthesis :
  • fence can be pronounced /fens/ or /fents/
  • warmth can be pronounced /wɔ:mθ/ or  /wɔ:mpθ/
  • length can be pronounced /leŋθ/ or /leŋkθ/