39) What is an assimilation?

Assimilation is when two sounds come together and change or melt into a new sound. Assimilations may happen inside a word, or between two words, when the final sound of a word touches the first sound of the next word (because when we speak we join all the words together). When speaking, people make many assimilations, most of them can only be noticed by the trained ear of an academic speaker and are not important for us. But there are 4 assimilations that are very important, because the sound changes a lot and the student of English can notice the difference and feel confused about it.

The sound /j/ is usually found in the letter Y, the letter I and the letter U (when it is or was in the past pronounced /ju:/)

1- /d/ + /j/ = /dʒ/ (D+Y=J)

would you like some tea? arrow3 would + you /wʊd ju:/ = /wʊdʒu:/

soldier arrow3 /səʊldjə*/ = /səʊldʒə*/

2- /t/ + /j/ = /tʃ/ (T+Y=CH)

Nice to meet you arrow3 meet + you /mi:t ju:/ = /mi:tʃu:/

picture arrow31 /pɪktjʊə*/ → 2 /pɪktʃʊə*/ → 3 /pɪktʃə*/ (1= old fashioned pronunciation, 2= transitional pronunciation, 3= present pronunciation, the vowel /ʊ/ weakened and disappears)

3- /z/ + /j/ = /ʒ/

treasure arrow3 /trezjʊə*/ → 2 /treʒʊə*/ → 3 /treʒə*/ (1, 2, 3= see comments to the word "picture" above)

learning centres such as universities arrow3 as + universities /əz ju:nɪvɜ:*sɪtɪz/ = /əʒu:nɪvɜ:*sɪtɪz/

4- /s/ + /j/ = /ʃ/ (S+Y=SH)

special arrow3 /spesjəl/ = /speʃəl/

it's just you = it's jus' you arrow3 /dʒʌs ju:/ = /dʒʌʃu:/ (in conversational English "just" often loses its final T and it sounds "jus", so S + Y = SH)

40) What is an assimilated sound?

In Assimilation Two sounds are involved, and one becomes more like the other. The assimilating phoneme picks up one or more of the features of another nearby phoneme. The Latin root simil- is key here: two sounds become more similar. A consonant which is influencing is called assimilating. Sound and a consonant which is influenced by the neighbouring consonant is called assimilated.

 Example. The English phoneme /n/ has the features [alveolar, nasal, voiced]. The phoneme /p/ has the features [bilabial, plosive, voiceless]. The word input is sometimes pronounced ['ɪmpʊt]. In this word, /n/ has assimilated to /p/ - it comes to have the features [bilabial, nasal, voiced] instead of [alveolar, nasal, voiced]. (/n/ -> [m] before /p/).

41. What is an assimilating sound?

It is the influence exercised by one sound segment upon the articulation of another, so that the sounds become more alike or identical in terms of one or more of its phonetic characteristics. It is the commonest phonological process responsible for several allophones with the allophone selected in a particular position being depend on the other sound that are adjacent.

The advantage of having assimilation is that it results in smoother, more effortless, more economical transitions from one sound to another. Also, it facilitates the task of speaking. The speaker usually tries to conserve energy by using no more effort than it necessary to produce an utterance. Moreover , when passages of natural conversation came to be analyzed, assimilation emerged as being one of the main means where be fluency and rhythm are maintained.