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compensatory lengthening

noun

, Historical Linguistics.
  1. the lengthening of a vowel when a following consonant is weakened or lost, as the change from Old English niht [ni, kh, t] to night [nahyt], with loss of [kh] and lengthening of [i] to a vowel that eventually became [ahy].


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Example Sentences

This was lost before -an of the infinitive, contraction and compensatory lengthening being the result.

So in many cases there is a choice between compensatory lengthening and compensatory pause.

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