Standard Lemma guide

svarabhakti

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˌsvʌrəˈbʌkti/
  • UK: /ˌsvæ-/
  • UK: /ˌsvɑː-/
  • UK: /-bækti/
  • US: /ˌsvɑɹəˈbɑkti/
  • US: /ˌswɑɹəˈbɑkti/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The epenthesis of a vowel, as in the football chant Engerland for England; anaptyxis.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonology, sciences

Examples

  • Svarabhakti is a common feature of northern Indian languages such as Hindi and Bengali.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bengali: স্বরভক্তি (śorbhokti) — epenthesis of a vowel
  • French: svarabhakti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • German: Svarabhakti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • German: Swarabhakti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Gujarati: સ્વરભક્તિ (svarbhakti) — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Hindi: स्वरभक्ति (svarbhakti) — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Indonesian: suarabakti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Indonesian: swarabakti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Italian: svarabacti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Italian: svarabhakti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Kannada: ಸ್ವರಭಕ್ತಿ (svarabhakti) — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Marathi: स्वरभक्ती (svarbhaktī) — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Nepali: स्वरभक्ति (svarabhakti) — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Norwegian Bokmål: svarabhakti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: svarabhakti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Polish: epenteza samogłosek — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Portuguese: suarabácti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Punjabi: ਸਵਰਭਕਤੀ (savrabhaktī) — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Russian: сварабха́кти (svarabxákti) — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Sanskrit: स्वरभक्ति (svarabhakti) — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Scottish Gaelic: fuaimreag-chòmhnaidh — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Spanish: svarabhakti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Swedish: svarabhakti — epenthesis of a vowel
  • Telugu: స్వరభక్తి (svarabhakti) — epenthesis of a vowel