epenthesis

This term is a specialized linguistic descriptor used primarily in phonetics and phonology. It describes a specific type of sound change where an extra phoneme is added to a word, often to break up a cluster of consonants that the speaker finds difficult to articulate. It is a technical term and is rarely encountered in casual conversation, appearing instead in academic papers, linguistic textbooks, or detailed analyses of dialect and speech patterns.

Because it refers to a specific linguistic process, it is often contrasted with elision (the omission of sounds) or metathesis (the transposition of sounds). In practical usage, it is frequently used to explain why non-native speakers might add a vowel sound to the beginning of words starting with "s" clusters, such as saying "eschool" instead of "school."