Assimilation

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 515.

Assimilation is the process of adapting the articulation of sounds that are of a similar or identical nature. Assimilation involves changes in the central phases of the adjoining sounds (as in /nð/ or even in all their phases (as in /sj/>/ /).

When two consonants assimilate, different phonetic phenomena may occur, such as:

1. Vocalization and devocalization, which involve the work of the vocal cords (as in / tra:nz'leitfor /……/ /tra:ns'leit/).

2. Coalescent assimilation, when under the influence of mutual assimilation there appears a new phoneme (as in /sj/>/ /, /zj/>/ /, / />/ /, /dj/>/ /.

3. Labialization under the influence of /w/ (as in /tw/, /kw/, etc.

Assimilation resulting in allophonic modifications may occur within a syllable (e.g. in “train” /r/ is voiceless, or partly devoiced), at the juncture of syllables (e.g. in “anthem” /n/ is dental under the influence of /θ/), or at the juncture of two words (e.g. “but the” where /t/ is dental).

If the assimilated sound is partially altered and acquires only some features of the assimilating sound (as in “try”, where /t/ is post-alveolar), the assimilation is said to be partial.

If the assimilated sound is completely altered and acquired all the main features of the assimilating sound as in “horseshoe”, “does she” /'dΛ i/, the assimilation is said to be complete.

The influence that sounds exert upon each other may vary in direction.

If a sound is influenced by the preceding sound and acquires some of its features as in “cry”, where /r/ is partly devoiced under the influence of /k/, the assimilation is progressive.

If a sound is influenced by the following sound and acquires some of its features as in “gooseberry”, where /s/ is voiced and replaced by /z/ under the influence of /b/, the assimilation is regressive.

If the sound influence each other equally, i.e. each sound acquires some features of the other sound as in “twenty”, where /t/ is labialized under the influence of /w/, and /w/ is partly devoiced under the influence of /t/, the assimilation is mutual.