What is epenthesis? Provide an example.

• A. Omission of a sound in fluent speech; e.g., "camera" pronounced [ˈkæmrə].
• B. The center of a syllable, typically a vowel (or a syllabic consonant like [n̩]).
• C. Insertion of a vowel to break up a consonant cluster; e.g., pronouncing "athlete" as [æθliːt].
• D. A phoneme that never occurs in a word.

Answer: (C)

Epenthesis is the insertion of a sound, typically a vowel, into a word to break up a difficult or illegal consonant cluster, making pronunciation easier. For example, in some English pronunciations of “athlete,” an extra vowel is inserted between the /θ/ and /l/, producing something like [æθliːt]. This added segment smooths the cluster rather than removing any sound. It’s different from omitting a sound (elision), which would shorten a word, and it’s not about the syllable’s vowel that forms the nucleus or about a phoneme that never occurs. The inserted vowel can vary (often a schwa or another simple vowel) depending on language and context.