Syncope

From Freepedia

Syncope has two distinct and apparantly unrelated meanings, one in linguistics and another in medicne.

Linguistics

In linguistics, syncope is the deletion of phonemes from a word, or from a phrase treated as a unit; compare elision.

Syncope gives rise to many of the silent letters in English spelling. The traditional spellings of English place names such as Worcester and Gloucester bear evidence of syncope, as does the usual pronunciation of parliament. Syncope is the reason why Australian English is colloquially known as Strine.

In some traditional English spellings, the syncope suffered by abbreviated forms is indicated by an apostrophe, as in didn't and I'd've. In other, similar words, it is customary to omit the apostrophe, as in gonna for going to or wannabe for want to be. The forms showing syncope, whether indicated or not, are usually marked as colloquial and not used in the most formal sorts of English.

Medicine

Syncope is a medical term which describes the condition normally known as fainting. Syncope involves a temporary reduction of blood (and therefore oxygen) supply to the brain, resulting in a blackout.

An article in the August 2005 edition of the UK medical journal The Lancet was entitled Laughter-induced syncope.

Syncope can be brought on be a variety of heart-related and non-heart-related circulatory problems and activities, including simply getting up too quickly.