Assimilation in English

Assimilation in English

Ulanova valeria

Assimilation and its types.

ASSIMILATION IS a process of alternation of speech sounds as a result of which one of the sounds becomes fully or partially similar to the adjoining one.

• Direction of Assimilation;
• According to the place of obstruction and the active organ of speech;
• According to the work of the vocal cords;
• According to the position of the lips;
• According to the position of the soft palate;

Direction of Assimilation

• Progressive

This is when the previous sound affects the pronunciation of the next one.

e.g. The pronunciation of the plural suffix –s of nouns depends on the quality of a preceding consonant: it is pronounced as [z] after voiced consonants (pens [penz], calls [kO:lz]) and as [s] after voiceless consonants (desks [desks], books [ bʊks ])

Direction of Assimilation

• Regressive

When the following sound influences the articulation of the preceding one.

• The apical-alveolar consonants [t, d, n, l] become interdental before [θ, ð].

Example: in the [ɪn ðe].

• Articulation [t, d] before [r] becomes postalveolar.

Example: dry [`draɪ].

Direction of Assimilation

• Reciprocal or double

Both sounds interact with each other.

For example, in the word, twice [t] is rounded under the influence of [w], and [w] , in turn, is partially stunned under the influence of the voiceless [t].

For example, Within the word  tree  [tri:] the sonorant [r] is partly devoiced under the influence of the voiceless [t] and the alveolar [t] becomes post-alveolar before the post-alveolar [r].

According to the place of obstruction and the active organ of speech

Assimilation may take place within a word and also at word boundaries. The following three important cases should be noticed:

• The alveolar allophones of [t, d, n, l, s, z] are replaced by the dental variants when immediately followed by the interdental [ θ ] or [ ð ].

e.g. within a word: breadth, tenth

at word boundaries: Put that down! Read this! on the desk.

• The post-alveolar [t] and [d] are heard before the post-alveolar sonorant [r].

e.g. within a word: trip, true, trunk, dream, drink, dry.

at word boundaries: at rest, would read

According to the work of the vocal cords

• The sonorants [m, n, l, w, r, j] are partially devoiced when preceded by voiceless consonants [s, p, t, k, f, θ, ʃ ].

e.g. within words:

[m] – small [n] - sneer

[j] - stupid, tune, pure, few [w] - sweep, square

[r] - spread, try, cream [l] - slow, place climb

At word boundaries the sonorants [l, r, w] are slightly voiced if with the adjacent words they form a phrasal word or a rhythmic group: e.g. at last, at rest.

• Contractive forms of the verbs “is” and “has” may retain voice or be voiceless depending on the preceding consonants. eg. that's right, Jack's done it, Bob's gone out.

According to the work of the vocal cords

• The assimilative voicing or devoicing of the possessive suffix -'s or -s’ the plural suffix (e)s of nouns and of the third person singular present indefinite of verbs depends on the quality of the preceding consonant. These suffixes are pronounced as:

• [z] after all voiced consonants except [z] and [ʒ] and after all vowel sounds, eg girls [ɡɜ:lz], rooms [ru:mz], laws [lɔ:z], reads [ri:dz];
• [s] after all voiceless consonants except [s] and [ʃ], eg Jack's [ʤæks], books [bʊks], writes [raɪts];

a separate syllable [ɪz] after [s, z] or [ʃ, ʤ], eg George's [ˈʤɔ:ʤɪz], dishes ['dɪʃɪz], boxes ['bɒksɪz].

According to the work of the vocal cords

• The assimilative voicing or devoicing of the suffix -ed of regular verbs also depends on the quality of the preceding consonant. The ending -ed is pronounced as:

• [d] after all voiced consonants except [d] and after all vowel sounds,

e.g. lived [lɪvd], played [pleɪd];

• [t] after all voiceless consonants except [t],

e.g. worked [wɜ:kt];

• a separate syllable [ɪd] after [d,t],

e.g. expected [ɪks'pektɪd].

'hænnsəm 'hænsm]; handmade I'hænmeɪd]. " width="640"

1) According to the position of the lips 2) According to the position of the soft palate

1) Consonants followed by the sonorant [w] change their lip-position. They become lip-rounded in anticipation of [w].

e.g. twinkle, quite, swan, language.

2) Nasal consonants may influence the adjacent plosives. This type of assimilation is not typical of English. Sometimes [d] changes into [n] under the influence of the preceding [n].

e.g. handsome ['hændsəm 'hænnsəm 'hænsm]; handmade I'hænmeɪd].

wrong assimilation palate

This phonetic phenomenon is usually present at the junction of a voiceless and voiced consonant. In Russian, we are used to stun voiced consonants and voice deaf ones. With English sounds, this does not happen in the following cases:

• [s, z] do not change before [θ, ð] - this is [ɪz ðæt];
• the combination of sounds [f, v] and [w, θ, ð] does not change their characteristics – fifth [fɪ fθ ];
• voiced consonants are not stunned before voiceless: his dog [hɪz dog];
• voiceless consonants do not sound before voiced: aunt’s dress [ɑːnt s   d res]