ELISION (Elizio).

56. Elision is not common in Esperanto, except in poetry, where it is used, when required, for the purpose of rhythm. Some prose writers use it, but it is better to avoid its use.

57. The letter A in the article la may be elided when the article is preceded by a preposition ending in a vowel, for then the L of the article can be sounded with the preposition and the full pronunciation given to the first letter of the following word, e.g., de l’ kreo de l’ mondo (for de la) = since the creation of the world. (Pronounce de l’ as del).

In poetry the letter A of the article is occasionally elided before a word beginning with a vowel.

The final O of the substantive may also be elided, e.g., kant’ (for kanto) = a song. The tonic accent (par. [17]) remains on the same syllable on which it would fall if no elision had taken place.

Note that kant’ may not be used as an abbreviation of anything else but kanto. Thus, it cannot represent kanton, kantoj, kante, kantas, etc.

The dropped letter is in all cases noted by an apostrophe.

Ĝis la bela sonĝo de l’ homaro (de l’ for de la)
Por eterna ben’ efektiviĝos (ben’ for beno).
Till the beautiful dream of humanity
Shall be realized for an eternal blessing.

Pri l’ tempoj estontaj pensante (pri l’ for pri la)
Thinking of times to be.
L’ espero, l’ obstino kaj la pacienco.
Hope, tenacity, and patience.