enclitic

American  

[en-klit-ik] / ɛnˈklɪt ɪk /

adjective

1. (of a word) closely connected in pronunciation with the preceding word and not having an independent accent or phonological status.

---

noun

1. an enclitic word, as Latin que “and” in arma virumque, “arms and the man.”

enclitic British  

/ ɪnˈklɪtɪk /

adjective

1. 1. denoting or relating to a monosyllabic word or form that is treated as a suffix of the preceding word, as Latin -que in populusque

   2. (in classical Greek) denoting or relating to a word that throws an accent back onto the preceding word

---

noun

1. an enclitic word or linguistic form

Other Word Forms

• enclitically adverb

Etymology

Origin of enclitic

1650–60; < Late Latin encliticus < Greek enklitikós, equivalent to en- en- ² + klít ( os ) slope + -ikos -ic

Example Sentences

He settled Hoti's business�let it be!�Properly based Oun� Gave us the doctrine of the enclitic De .

From Time Magazine Archive

Again, where prepositions made a pronoun enclitic, the old accent is perishing.

From Society for Pure English, Tract 01 (1919) by Society for Pure English

Then Artaxerxov told me to give the list of the enclitic particles.

From The Cook's Wedding and Other Stories by Garnett, Constance

A few enclitic conjunctions exist, but they are indefinite in meaning—śwt a vague “but,” grt a vague “moreover,” &c.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 1 "Edwardes" to "Ehrenbreitstein" by Various

But if the syllable still remains short after the enclitic has been added, it is not accented unless the word originally took the accent on the antepenult.

From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)