aphaeresis
/əˈfɛrəsɪs/
noun
- The loss of one or more sounds or letters from the beginning of a word, such as 'round' from 'around'.
- The word 'phone' comes from 'telephone' through aphaeresis.
- Linguists study aphaeresis to understand how languages change over time.
- In English, 'cause' is an example of aphaeresis from 'because'.