Definition

A situation in which a consonant sound is held or pronounced for a longer time than usual.

Example

In some languages, gemination can change the meaning of a word, such as in Italian where 'papa' means 'pope' and 'pappa' means 'food'.

Conversation

Have you ever heard of the term gemination?

Yeah, I think it refers to lengthening a consonant sound, right?

Exactly! It's interesting how it can change the meaning of words.

For sure, it's a cool aspect of pronunciation that not many people notice.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Gemination is formed from 'geminare' (meaning to double) and the suffix '-tion' (indicating the action or process of). The word describes the action or process of doubling a consonant sound in phonetics.

Memory Tip

Think of 'doubling' ('geminare') something — that's what gemination means, the process of doubling a sound.

Visually Confused Words