An elision is the omission of a letter or a syllable in a word or phrase producing a more easily pronounced result. In some instances, the omitted letters are replaced by an apostrophe and form a contraction.

Elision can occur on both the orthographic and the phonetic level.

Examples

• French
  • L'avion décolle: A masuline noun is normally preceded by the indefinite article 'le', but if the word begins by a vowel, the 'e' of the article is elided.
• English
  • it's: It is or it has.
    • As distinct from the possessive its meaning 'belonging to it'.
  • you're: you are.
  • B'ham: Birmingham, pronounced bee-ham.
  • [wenzdei]: Wednesday.