From Gerald Erichsen,
Your Guide to Spanish Language.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Definition: In pronunciation, the omission of sounds, especially as words flow together. Elision is extremely common in Spanish, especially when one word ends in a vowel and the following word begins with the same vowel. (English speakers are more likely to use a brief pause under similar circumstances or to modify the sound of one vowel. Compare la artista in Spanish, which sounds the same as would lartista, with the English "the elephant," which typically has distinct sounds for each "e.") In both languages, it is common to omit one of the consonant sounds when a word that ends in one consonant precedes a word beginning with the same consonant.

Also Known As: Elisión in Spanish.

Examples: In Spanish, the sound of compró ocho is indinguishable from what comprocho would be, and the sound of puerta abierta would be the same as that of puertabierta. El lado and helado are pronounced identically (the h is silent). In casually spoken English, "seven nuts" is pronounced the same as "sevenuts" would be. A more extreme example of elision in English is the use of "gonna" for "going to."