Haplology

Haplology (from Greek ἁπλός haplos "simple" and λόγος logos, "speech") is defined as the elimination of a syllable when two consecutive, identical, or similar syllables occur. The phenomenon was identified by American philologist Maurice Bloomfield in the 20th century. Linguists sometimes jokingly refer to the phenomenon as "haplogy" (subjecting the four-syllable, haplology to the reduced, three-syllable, haplogy). As a general rule, haplology occurs in English adverbs of adjectives ending in "le", for example gentlely > gently; ablely > ably.