:Elision:

Pronunciation ɪˈlɪʒn, adj. elided ɪˈlaɪdəd

The deletion of a sound. There are two categories of elision:

  1. synchronic, when a sound may be elided from a word or phrase in present day speech. An example of this from English is the phrase next month, which may be pronounced without elision: nekst mʌnθ or with the alveolar plosive elided: neks mʌnθ.
  2. diachronic, where a sound which used to occur in a word or phrase is now permanently deleted. An example of this from English is the word listen, which is no longer pronounced with the alveolar plosive which the spelling suggests.

See also pseudo-elision.