iotize

English

Alternative forms

• iotise

Etymology

1854 pre-iotized, 1874 iotization, iotized, 1890 iotised, 1906 iotise. Adapted from Ancient Greek ἰωτίζω (iōtízō, “I write with an iota”). Compare iota.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɪətaɪz/

Verb

iotize (third-person singular simple present iotizes, present participle iotizing, simple past and past participle iotized) (transitive)

1. (linguistics) To precede a spoken vowel sound with a "y" sound, as the u in "pure" and "cute".

Usage notes

The verb form iotize/iotise is exceedingly rare, compared to the participle, noun and adjective forms.

The adjective iotified is used in the names of several Cyrillic letters in the Unicode standard. Although widely cited, it appears to be a nonce borrowing from Slavic, however, as the corresponding back-formations iotify and iotification are unattested.

Synonyms

• iotate (attested 1939 iotated, 1978 iotate)

Derived terms

• iotization
• iotized (adj.)

Related terms

• iota
• iotated
• iotation
• jot
• jod, yod
• yodization, yotization