Allophonic assimilation – de-voicing of liquids We know that the liquids /r, l/ are prone to being de-voiced in single words when they occur after voiceless consonants. This process can also function across a word boundary in connected speech. So, if a word-final voiceless consonant precedes a word-initial liquid…
Allophonic assimilation – disapplication Velarization We have seen how /l/ is velarized if it occurs in word-final position, e.g. kill /kɪl/ → [k̟ʰɪɫ] However, in connected speech, a word-final /l/ will not be velarized if it is followed across a word boundary by a word that has…
Phonemic assimilation overview In phonemic assimilation the new, transformed speech sounds are not allophones of the original sound but, rather, they are substituting phonemes. For example, in connected speech, the phrase that person /ðæt pɜsən/ may sound more like [ðæp̚ pɜsə̃n], with the final /t/ of that being…
Phonemic assimilation – voice Recall that word-final voiced plosives, fricatives and affricates are particularly prone to being de-voiced when they appear in words spoken in isolation, e.g. bed /bɛd/ →[bɛd̥]; have /hæv/ → [hæv̥]; badge /bæʤ/ → [bæʤ̊]. This de-voicing creates allophones of the affected phonemes. Now, when…
Phonemic assimilation – place One of the most pervasive types of phonemic assimilation that involves assimilations of place is de-alveolar assimilation. This occurs when an alveolar sound in word-final position is followed across a word boundary by a consonant in word-initial position. We will consider three types of…
Phonemic assimilation – bilabial place De-alveolar assimilation is often highly predictable. So, if we know which particular alveolar occupies word-final position before the word boundary and the nature of the consonant occupying the word-initial position of the immediately following word, we can predict which phoneme will likely be…
Phonemic assimilation – velar place The above rules have examined how the alveolars /t, d, n/, and combinations of these, become bilabial before bilabial consonants. If, however, they appear before velar plosives they become velar: Examples of this assimilation of velar place of articulation include the following.
Phonemic assimilation – post-alveolar place If an alveolar plosive or fricative appears word-finally, and is followed immediately by the post-alveolar approximant /j/, it will assimilate this post-alveolar place of articulation as follows: Consider the phrase: what you like /wɒt ju laɪk/ In a context such as this,…
