What is "haplology"

1895; see haplo- + -logy.

n. 1 (context linguistics English) The process of delete one of two almost identical syllables within a word. 2 An instance of deleting one of two almost identical syllables within a word.

Haplology (from Greek ἁπλός haplos "simple" and λόγος logos, "speech") is defined as the elimination of a syllable when two consecutive identical or similar syllables occur. The phenomenon was identified by American philologist Maurice Bloomfield in the 20th century. Linguists sometimes jokingly refer to the phenomenon as "haplogy" (subjecting the word haplology to haplology).