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{{Short description|Vowel sandhi process}}{{refimprove|date=April 2014}}
'''Crasis''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|r|eɪ|s|ɪ|s}};<ref name=OED>{{OED|crasis}}</ref> from the Greek {{lang|grc|κρᾶσις}}, {{lit|mixing|blending}})<ref>{{LSJ|kra{{=}}sis|κρᾶσις|ref}}; cf. {{LSJ|kera/nnumi|κεράννῡμι}}, "I mix" ''wine with water''; ''[[Krater|kratēr]]'' "mixing-bowl" is related.</ref> is a type of [[synalepha|contraction]] in which two vowels or diphthongs [[coalescence (linguistics)|merge]] into one new vowel or [[diphthong]], making one word out of two ([[univerbation]]). Crasis occurs in many languages, including [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], and [[French language|French]]; it was first described in [[Ancient Greek]].

In some cases, as in the French examples, crasis involves the grammaticalization of two individual lexical items into one. However, in other cases, like in the Greek examples, crasis is the orthographic representation of the [[enclitic|encliticization]] and the [[vowel reduction]] of one grammatical form with another. The difference between them is that the Greek examples involve two [[grammatical words]] and a single [[phonological word]], but the French examples involve a single phonological word and grammatical word.

==Greek==
In both [[Ancient Greek|Ancient]] and [[Modern Greek]], crasis merges a small word and long word that are closely connected in meaning.{{refn|group=n|Note that ''crasis'' in English usually refers to the merging of words, but the sense of the word in the original Greek was more general<ref name=OED/> and referred to most changes related to vowel contraction, including [[synaeresis]].}}

In Ancient Greek, a [[coronis (diacritic)|coronis]] ({{lang|grc|κορωνίς}} ''korōnís'' "curved"; plural {{lang|grc|κορωνίδες}} ''korōnídes'') marks the vowel from crasis. In ancient times, it was an apostrophe placed after the vowel ({{lang|grc|τα᾽μά}}), but it is now written over the vowel ({{lang|grc|τἀμά}}) and is identical to [[smooth breathing]] in [[Unicode]]. (For instance, {{lang|grc|τἀμά}} uses the character {{unichar|1F00|Greek small letter alpha with psili}}; ''psili'' means smooth breathing.) Unlike a coronis, smooth breathing never occurs on a vowel in the middle of a word although it occurs in a [[gemination|doubled]] [[rho (letter)|rho]]: {{lang|grc|πύῤῥος}} ''pyrrhos''.

The [[Ancient Greek definite article|article]] undergoes crasis with nouns and adjectives that start with a vowel:
* {{lang|grc|τὰ ἐμά → τᾱ̓μά}} "my (affairs)"
* {{lang|grc|τὸ ἐναντίον → τοὐναντίον}} "on the contrary"
* {{lang|grc|τὸ αὐτό → ταὐτό}} "the same"
* {{lang|grc|τὰ αὐτά → ταὐτά}} (plural of the previous example)

καί undergoes crasis with the first-person singular pronoun and produces a long vowel:
* {{lang|grc|καὶ ἐγώ → κᾱ̓γώ}} "and I", "I too"
* {{lang|grc|καὶ ἐμοί → κᾱ̓μοί}} "and to me"

In the modern [[monotonic orthography]], the coronis is not written.

==Italian==
In Italian, crasis occurs between the prepositions ''a'', ''da'', ''di'', ''in'', ''con'', ''su'', ''per'' and the singular masculine definite article ''il'' or in fewer cases with the plural masculine definite articles ''i'' and ''gli''.
* ''a il'' → ''al''
* ''da il'' → ''dal''
* ''di il'' → ''del''
* ''in il'' → ''nel''
* ''con il'' → ''col''
* ''con i'' → ''coi''
* ''su il'' → ''sul''
* ''per il'' → ''pel'' (archaic)
* ''per i'' → ''pei'' (archaic)
* ''per gli'' → ''pegli'' (archaic)

==French==
In French, the contractions of determiners are often the results of a vocalisation and a crasis:
* {{lang|fr|de le}} → {{lang|fr|du}}, {{lang|fr|de les}} → {{lang|fr|des}}
* {{lang|fr|à le}} → {{lang|fr|au}}, {{lang|fr|à les}} → {{lang|fr|aux}}
* {{lang|fr|en les}} → {{lang|fr|ès}} (archaic)
In colloquial Québécois French, crasis extends to form further words.

* à + la → à
* sur + la → s'a
* sur + les → s'es
* il + est → yé

==Portuguese==
{{Expand section|date=August 2007}}
The most frequently-observed crasis is now the contraction of the preposition ''a'' ("to" or "at") with the feminine singular definite article ''a'' ("the"), indicated in writing with a [[grave accent]] or the masculine singular definite article ''o'' (also "the"). For example, instead of ''*Vou a a praia'' ("I go '''to the''' beach"), one says ''Vou à praia'' ("I go '''to-the''' beach"). The contraction turns the [[clitic]] ''a'' into the stressed word ''à''. Meanwhile, a person going to a bank, a supermarket or a marketplace would say respectively ''Vou ao banco'', ''Vou ao supermercado'' or ''Vou à feira''.

Crasis also occurs between the preposition ''a'' and [[demonstrative]] such as when the preposition precedes ''aquele(s)'', ''aquela(s)'' (meaning "that", "those", in different genders), which contract to ''àquele(s)'', ''àquela(s)''. The accent marks a [[secondary stress]] in Portuguese.

In addition, the crasis ''à'' is pronounced [[vowel#Height|lower]] as {{IPAslink|a}} than the article or preposition ''a'', as {{IPAslink|ɐ}}, in the examples in standard [[European Portuguese]], but the qualitative distinction is not made by most speakers in [[Brazilian Portuguese]] (some dialects, like [[Rio de Janeiro]]'s ''fluminense'', are exceptions and make the distinction).

Crasis is very important since it can change the meaning of a sentence:

* ''Exposta, '''a''' polícia'' - The police is exposed
* ''Exposta '''à''' polícia'' - She is exposed to the police
* ''Glória, '''a''' rainha'' - Glória the queen (In this case, “Glória” is a proper noun).
* ''Glória '''à''' rainha'' - Glory to the queen (It can be spoken in the imperative with a different intonation. Glory to the Queen can mean that people are "ordering" that "Glory", a proper noun, be the queen.)
* ''Dê '''a''' mulher'' - Give the woman
* ''Dê '''à''' mulher'' - Give to the woman

These rules determine whether crasis always applies or whether one may use the contraction ''à'' (with an accent) instead of the preposition ''a'' (without an accent):

Replace the preposition ''a'' by another preposition, as ''em'' ("in") or ''para'' ("to"). If after replacement, the definite article ''a'' ("the") is still possible, crasis applies:

* ''Pedro viajou à Região Nordeste'': with a grave accent because it equivalent to "Pedro traveled 'to the' [[Northeast Region, Brazil|Northeast Region]]". Here, ''para a Região Nordeste'' could also be used.
* ''O autor dedicou o livro a sua esposa'': without a grave accent in Brazilian Portuguese because it is equivalent to "The author dedicated the book 'to' his wife". A consistent use, according to the rules in [[Brazil]] would not allow ''para a sua esposa'' to be used instead. In European Portuguese, the rules are different, and it is ''O autor dedicou o livro à sua esposa'', but in English, both sentences have the same meaning.

If the nominal complement is changed after "a" from a feminine noun to a masculine noun, and it is now necessary to use 'ao' as used naturally by native speakers, crasis applies:

* ''Prestou relevantes serviços à comunidade'', ''He/she paid outstanding services to the community'': with a grave accent because if the object is changed to a masculine noun ("Prestou relevantes serviços ao povo" ''He/she paid outstanding services to the people''), "ao" ("to [masculine] the") is now used.
* "Chegarei daqui a uma hora" ''I will arrive in an hour'': without crasis because when the feminine noun is changed to a masculine noun ("Chegarei daqui a um minuto" ''I will arrive in a minute''), there is no "ao" (as "um/uma", indefinite articles, appear instead of "o/a").

The grave accent is never used before masculine words (nouns, pronouns, etc.); verbs; personal pronouns; numerals, plural nouns without the use of the feminine plural definite article ''as'' ("the"); city names that do not use a feminine article; the word ''casa'' ("house") if it has the meaning of one's own home; the word ''terra'' ("earth") when it has the meaning of soil; and indefinite, personal, relative or demonstrative pronouns (except the third person and ''aquele(s)'' or ''aquela(s)''); between identical nouns such as ''dia a dia'' "day by day", "everyday", "daily life", ''gota a gota'' "dropwise", "drip", and ''cara a cara'' "face to face"; and after prepositions. Here are exceptions:

''É preciso declarar guerra à guerra!'' (It is necessary to declare war on war!)

''É preciso dar mais vida à vida.'' (It is necessary to give more life to life.)

Crasis also occurs between the prepositions ''de'', ''em'' and ''por'' and the definite articles.

* ''de o'' → ''do''
* ''de a'' → ''da''
* ''de os'' → ''dos''
* ''de as'' → ''das''
* ''em o'' → ''no''
* ''em a'' → ''na''
* ''em os'' → ''nos''
* ''em as'' → ''nas''
* ''por o'' → ''pelo''
* ''por a'' → ''pela''
* ''por os'' → ''pelos''
* ''por as'' → ''pelas''

===Optional crasis===
The grave accent is optional in the following cases:

* Before a female's first name

''Refiro-me [à/a] Fernanda.'' (I am referring to Fernanda.)

* Before a feminine possessive pronoun

''Dirija-se [à/a] sua fazenda.'' (Go to your [own] farm.)

* After the preposition ''até''

''Dirija-se até [à/a] porta.'' (Go by that door.)

''Eu fui até [à/a] França de carro.'' (I traveled to [[France]] by car.)

==Spanish==
In Spanish, crasis occurs between the prepositions ''a'' or ''de'' and the masculine definite article ''el''.
* ''a el'' → ''al''
* ''de el'' → ''del''

==See also==
* [[Assimilation (linguistics)]]
* [[Clitic]]
* [[Contraction (grammar)]]
* [[Elision]]
* [[Liaison (French)]]
* [[Sandhi]]
* [[Synalepha]]

==Notes and references==

===Notes===
{{reflist|group=n}}

===References===
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190404044055/http://www.ccel.org/s/smyth/grammar/html/smyth_1c_uni.htm Greek Grammar]

[[Category:Phonology]]
[[Category:Greek language]]
[[Category:Portuguese language]]

[[es:Crasis]]