Phonetics and Phonology

summer 2007

Lecture 7
ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH II
ASSIMILATION

• Assimilation
= one sound made similar to another, “spodoba” in Czech
- sounds belonging to one word can cause changes in sounds belonging to neighbouring words
- it is the natural result of the various speech organs ‘cutting corners’ as they perform their complex
sequence of movements, and this occurs mostly at word boundaries and affects mainly consonant
sounds
- however we must not think that 1 consonant is the ‘attacker’ and the other the ‘victim’ – it is
rather a case of MUTUAL influence
- although it follows fairly regular patterns, assimilation is different in different languages; we cannot
therefore simply apply the assimilations from eg Czech to English
- learners who do not assimilate at all may sound over-precise, too careful, and this can inhibit the use
of English rhythm and intonation patterns, resulting in a loss of both fluency and clarity of meaning!

Discovery activity:
Here are examples of the main kinds of assimilation in English. Say the following phrases first as
isolated words and then several times as connected speech. Do you change any of the sounds at the
word boundaries? (Try to transcribe the words in the space provided and then check it with the last
column).
said in isolation as connected speech assimilation in con.speech
you try
ten pin bowling /ten pІn bǩȚlІŋ/ / / /tem pІm bǩȚlІŋ/
in bed /Іn bed/ / / /Іm bed/
good bye /gȚd baІ/ / / /gȚb baІ/
hit man /hІt mæn/ / / /hІp mæn/
tin man /tІn mæn/ / / /tІm mæn/
good girl /gȚd g3:l/ / / /gȚg g3:l/
this shop /ðІs ȓǢp/ / / /ðІȓ ȓǢp/
these shops /ði:z ȓǢps/ / / /ði:Ȣ ȓǢps/
have to go /hæv tǩ gǩȚ/ / / /hæf tǩ gǩȚ/
how d’you do /haȚ dju du:/ / / /haȚ dȢu du:/
don’t you know /dǩȚnt ju nǩȚ/ / / /dǩȚntȓǩ nǩȚ/

• Types of assimilation
2 basic types are distinguished according to the direction of influence between neighbouring sounds :
1) regressive assimilation : one sound influences the preceding sound (C1 ← C2)
2) progressive assimilation: one sound influences the following sound (C1→ C2)

1
 • Assimilation affects consonants and their three distinctive features:
a) assimilation of place of articulation
b) assimilation of manner of articulation
c) assimilation of voicing

REGRESSIVE ASSIMILATION

1. Place of articulation

o alveolar consonant ← non-alveolar C

/t,d,n/ /p,b,m,k,g/
↓
non-alveolar C

/t/ that person, that bag, that man

↓
/p/ /ðæp p3:sn/ /ðæp bæg/ /ðæp mæn/
---------------------
/d/ good person, good bye, good man
↓
/b/ /gȚb p3:sn/ /gȚb baІ/ /gȚb mæn/
------------
/n/ ten people, ten bags, ten minutes
↓
/m/ /tem pi:pł/ /tem bægz/ /tem mІnІts/
------------
/t/ that colour, that garden
↓
/k/ /ðæk k∧lǩ/ /ðæk gǡ:dǩn/
------------
/d/ good girl, red colour
↓
/g/ /gȚg g3:ł/ /reg k∧lǩ/
------------
/n/ in case, ten couples, ten girls
↓
/ŋ/ /Іŋ keІs/ /teŋ k∧płz/ /teŋ g3:łz/

o alveolar C ← non-alveolar C
/s,z/ /j, ȓ/ assibilation
↓
non-alveolar C

2
/s/ this year, this ship, this young man
↓
/ȓ/ /ðІȓ j3:/ /ðІȓ ȓІp/ /ðІȓ j∧ŋ mæn/
-----------
/z/ those years, those ships, as you know
↓
/Ȣ/ /ðǩȚȢ j3:z/ /ðǩȚȢ ȓІps/ /ǩȢ ju nǩȚ/

o alveolar C ← non-alveolar C
/t,d/ /j/ affrication
↓
non-alveolar C
/t/ don’t you, won’t you
↓
/tȓ/ /dǩȚntȓ ju/ /wǩȚntȓ ju/
-----------
/d/ would you, could you
↓
/dȢ/ /wȚdȢ ju/ /kȚdȢ ju/
-----------
Examples in Czech:
pan král /paŋ kra:l/ sedni si /seďni si/ hanba /hamba/

2. Manner of articulation

o plosive C ← nasal C
↓
nasal C
/d/ good night
↓
/n/ /gȚn naІt/

o plosive C ← fricative C
↓
fricative C
/t/ that side
↓
/s/ /ðæs saІd/

3
Examples in Czech:
dětský /ďecki:/ bohatství /bohactvi:/ kanadský /kanacki:/

3. Assimilation of voice (only regressive!)

C lenis=voiced ← C fortis=voiceless
↓
no voicing (eg. leaD through the crowd, oF course, etc)

!!! if C1= fortis + C2 =lenis --> C1 remains VOICELESS!!!

Unlike in many other languages, assimilation of voice in English NEVER takes place in this case:
eg. I like that black dog.
/aІ laІk ðæt blæk dǢg/ not */aІ laІg ðæd blæg dǢg/

Examples in Czech:
svědek byl /svjedeg bil/ kdo /gdo/ kresba /krezba/ trubka /trupka/ led /let/

PROGRESSIVE ASSIMILATION
o C/V + ‘s’ : /kæt – kæts/ /dǢg - dǢgz/ /pleІ – pleІz/ /wІȓІz/
o C/V + ‘ed’: /stǢp - stǢpt/ /pȚł - pȚłd/ /pleІ – pleІd/ /stǡ:tІd/

Examples in Czech:
/ř/ třeba - /ř/ is unvoiced because of /t/
dřevo - /ř/ is voiced because of /d/