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Between the vowels of separate words there may occur synalœpha or hiatus. Synalœpha is the contracting into a single syllable of the vowels ending one word and those beginning the next word, as in hombre ilustre, soberbio edificio, Si á un infeliz la compasión se niega.

The vowels thus contracted are still pronounced separately, except in cases of the repetition of the same vowel, where only a single prolonged sound is heard, as in casa ajena. As synalœpha may take place where synæresis would be impossible, it is governed by somewhat different rules.

Hiatus—which corresponds to diæresis within a word—occurs when there is no contraction of the final vowel of one word and the initial vowel of the next; as in la hora, bella obra.

The following general observations are necessary:

(1) Mute h is disregarded in the verse and does not prevent synalœpha.

(2) An unaccented weak vowel between two other vowels prevents synalœpha of these latter; thus, comercio y agricultura, in which the io is kept apart from the a by the y, which itself forms a diphthong with the a; so also Sevilla ú Oviedo with the a in one syllable and the uo in another. Some writers have violated this rule, but most have observed it.

(3) ó prevents synalœpha and forms a syllable with the following vowel; Lupercio de Argensola:

El orbe escucha atónito ó atento.

(4) The conjunction é generally prevents synalœpha; Lupercio de Argensola:

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Pues he de retratarme, dónde ó cómo

Me pueda yo estar viendo é imitando.

Synalœpha is not wholly inadmissible.

(5) Two similar contiguous vowels form synalœpha, and the sound is a single prolonged one: el voluble elemento.

Three similar contiguous vowels may form synalœpha, but the combination is a harsh one; as in Maury:

No su palanca á Arquímedes le diera.

(6) A pause due to a break in sense does not prevent synalœpha.