prothesis prothesis
 pro'-thes-is Also sp. prosthesis
appositio
apposition, addition at the first

The addition of a letter or syllable to the beginning of a word. A kind of metaplasm.
 
Examples
  Addition of an initial letter:
Adown we tumbled.

To say "gnatus" for "natus" —Terence

Addition of an initial syllable:
By going to Achilles.
That were to enlard his fat-already pride.
—Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida 2.3.194-195

To say "tetuli" instead of "tuli"

Related Figures
 

  • aphaeresis
    The opposite of prothesis: The omission of a syllable at the beginning of a word.
  • epenthesis
    The addition of a letter, sound, or syllable to the middle of
    a word.
See Also
 

 
  Sources: Isidore 1.35.2; Mosellanus, a3r ("prothesis" "appositio"); Susenbrotus (1540) 20 ("prothesis," "appositio"); Sherry (1550) 26 ("prosthesis," "appositio," "apposition"); Wilson (1560) 202 ("addition at the first"); Peacham (1577) E2r;


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Gideon O. Burton, Brigham Young University
Please cite "Silva Rhetoricae" (rhetoric.byu.edu)

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