Hiatus

Hiatus refers to a break in a vocalic sequence whereby each vowel belongs to a different syllable. For instance, the word hiatus [haɪ.e.təs] exhibits such a phenomenon where the " . " marks the syllable break between the diphthong [aɪ] and the monophthong [e].

Examples from the Barra dialect of Gaelic are presented below (from Clements 1986):

- [N'i.an] bird

- [bi.əɣ] let (him) be

- [ʀu.əɣ] flush in the face

- [du.an] hook