Modification of consonants in connected speech. Assimilation

The complete articulation of a speech sound consists of three stages:

1. The on-glide stage – the articulating organs move to the position necessary for the articulation of a sound.

2. The hold stage – the articulating organs are kept in the position for a certain period of time.

3. The off-glide stage – the articulating organs returns to the position of rest.

Assimilation is a process of alteration of speech sounds as a result of which one of the sounds becomes fully or partially similar to the adjoining sound.

Types of assimilation can be distinguished according to:

• Direction,

• Degree of completeness,

• Degree of stability.

1. Direction of assimilation:

Assimilation can act in the following directions:

• Progressive – the following sound is changed under the influence of the preceding one (grandmother, sandwich – [d] under the influence of preceding [n] changes into [n] and then disappears);

• Regressive – the following sound changes the preceding one (width – alveolar [d] becomes dental before interdental [Ө]);

• Double – complex influence of adjacent sounds (tree – 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]).