Assimilation

1. Introduction
1.1. What is assimilation?
When a phoneme is used in speech, it will be coloured or influenced by neighbouring
phonemes, and it will also itself influence the articulation of other phonemes.
Assimilation takes place when a consonant sound changes one of its distinctive
features (force, place, and manner of articulation) to become more like a neighbouring
sound.

Assimilation may occur in relation to all three consonantal distinctive features: force,
place, and manner of articulation, but most commonly with place of articulation.

1.2. Where does assimilation occur?

Assimilation takes place in all kinds of speech, but there is variation. Assimilation
occurs:

• often at word boundaries, but sometimes also within words

• more in rapid (conversational) speech
• less in slow (formal) speech

1.3. Classification of assimilation

Every instance of assimilation may be classified in terms of degree, direction, and type.
There are:

• 2 degrees: complete and partial

• 2 directions: regressive and progressive
• 3 types: one for each distinctive feature (force, place, and manner)

1.3.1. Degrees of assimilation

Complete assimilation occurs when all the features become identical; the sounds
involved become the same:

• Goodbye /gʊd baɪ/ → /gʊb baɪ/

• Good boy /gʊd bɔɪ/ → /gʊb bɔɪ/

Here the lenis alveolar plosive /d/ changes to bilabial /b/ and becomes identical to the
following /b/.
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Partial assimilation occurs when only some of the features become the same:

• Have to /hæv tu/ → /hæf tu/

Here the lenis labiodental fricative /v/ changes to fortis labiodental fricative /f/ to
become more similar to the following fortis sound /t/.

Partial assimilation is much more common than complete assimilation.

1.3.2. The direction of assimilation

There are two directions of assimilation: progressive and regressive.

Progressive assimilation occurs when there is transfer of a feature of the articulation of

the first sound onto the second sound; in other words, a following sound changes to
become more similar to the previous sound. This type of assimilation generally happens
within words.

Direction ⇨⇨
• happen /hæpn/ → /hæpm/ (alveolar → bilabial)
• kicked /kɪkd/ → /kɪkt/ (lenis → fortis

Regressive assimilation occurs when a preceding sound is changed to become more

similar to the following one; we need to anticipate some feature of the articulation of the
second sound while articulating the first sound. This type of assimilation generally
happens across word boundaries.

Direction ⇦⇦
• in case /ɪn keɪs/ → /ɪŋ keɪs/ (alveolar to velar)
• in bed /ɪn bed/ → /ɪm bed/ (alveolar to bilabial)
• hit man /hɪt mæn/ → /hɪp mæn/ (alveolar to bilabial)

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1.3.3. Types of classification
Assimilation may involve a change in:
• the place of articulation
• the force of articulation
• the manner of articulation

In order to identify type of assimilation you should do a feature analysis. Let us look at
an example:

ten people /ten pi:pl/ > /tem pi:pl/

/n/ /p/ /m/ /p/

alveolar bilabial bilabial bilabial

This is partial, regressive assimilation affecting place of articulation. The alveolar

nasal /n/ changes to bilabial nasal /m/ to become more similar to the following
bilabial plosive /p/. It is only place of articulation that changes.

2. Assimilation affecting place of articulation

This change typically involves the alveolar consonants /t/, /d/, /n/, /s/, /z/. These
alveolar sounds often assimilate with other surrounding sounds. Note that only place
of articulation will change. Force and manner of articulation will stay unchanged.
This type of assimilation is NOT obligatory, but often happens in very fast and colloquial
speech.
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2.1. The alveolar sounds /t, d, n/
The alveolar sounds /t, d, n/ are extremely prone to assimilation as their place of
articulation is in the middle of the oral cavity. Their place of articulation may move
further to the front or further to the back.

Place
Manner Bilabial Labio- Dental Alveolar Post- Palatal Velar Glottal
dental alveolar
Plosives p b t d k g

Nasals m n ŋ

RULE 1: Alveolar place of articulation changes to bilabial when it is followed

immediately by a bilabial place of articulation. [alveolar → bilabial]

The phonemes /t, d, n/ are replaced by the equivalent bilabial sounds /p, b, m/ when
followed by a bilabial sound.

Fortis alveolar plosive /t/ → fortis bilabial plosive /p/ before bilabial /p, b, m, w/

foot pain /fʊt peɪn/ > /fʊp peɪn/ /t/ → /p/

get back /get bæk/ > /gep bæk/ /t/ → /p/
light music /laɪt mju:zɪk/ > /laɪp mju:zik/ /t/ → /p/
light wind /laɪt wɪnd/ > /laɪp wɪnd/ /t/ → /p/

Lenis alveolar plosive /d/ → lenis bilabial plosive /b/ before bilabial /p, b, m, w/

would pay /wʊd peɪ/ > /wʊb peɪ/ /d/ → /b/

red bus /red bʌs/ > /reb bʌs/ /d/ → /b/
good meat /gʊd mi:t/ > /gʊb mi:t/ /d/ → /b/
good one /gʊd wʌn/ > /gʊb wʌn/ /d/ → /b/

Alveolar nasal /n/ → bilabial nasal /m/ before bilabial /p, b, m, w/

ten pounds /ten paʊndz/ > /tem paʊndz/ /n/ → /m/

ten melons /ten melənz/ > /tem melənz/ /n/ → /m/
fine bait /faɪn beɪt/ > /faɪm beɪt/ /n/ → /m/
Fenwick /fenwɪk/ > /femwɪk/ /n/ → /m/
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 Place
Manner Bilabial Labio- Dental Alveolar Post- Palatal Velar Glottal
dental alveolar
Plosives p b t d k g

Nasals m n ŋ

RULE 2: Alveolar place of articulation changes to velar when it is followed

immediately by a velar place of articulation. [alveolar → velar]

The phonemes /t, d, n/ are replaced by the equivalent velar sounds /k, g, ŋ/ when
followed by a velar sound.

Fortis alveolar plosive /t/ → fortis velar plosive /k/ before velar /k, g/

fight crime /faɪt kraɪm/ > /faɪk kraɪm/ /t/ → /k/

let go RP /let gəʊ/ > /lek gəʊ/ /t/ → /k/

let go AE /let goʊ/ > /lek goʊ/ /t/ → /k/

Lenis alveolar plosive /d/ → lenis velar plosive /g/ before velar /k, g/

should come /ʃʊd kʌm/ > /ʃʊg kʌm/ /d/ → /g/

good grief /gʊd gri:f/ > /gʊg gri:f/ /d/ → /g/

Alveolar nasal /n/ → velar nasal /ŋ/ before velar /k, g/

uncommon RP /ʌnˈkɒmən/ > /ʌŋˈkɒmən/ /n/ → /ŋ/

uncommon AE /ʌnˈkɑ:mən/ > /ʌŋˈkɑ:mən/ /n/ → /ŋ/

in Greece /ɪn gri:s/ > /ɪŋ gri:s/ /n/ → /ŋ/

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 Place
Manner Bilabial Labio- Dental Alveolar Post- Palatal Velar Glottal
dental alveolar
Plosives p b t d k g

Nasals m n ŋ

This type of assimilation can affect the entire cluster /nt/:

don't get back RP /dəʊnt get bæk/ > /dəʊŋk gep bæk/ alveolar /nt/ → velar /ŋk/

don't get back AE /doʊnt get bæk/> /doʊŋk gep bæk/ alveolar /nt/ → velar /ŋk/

can't breathe RP /kɑ:nt bri:ð/ > /kɑ:mp bri:ð/ alveolar /nt/ → bilabial /mp/

can't breathe AE /kænt bri:ð/ > /kæmp bri:ð / alveolar /nt/ → bilabial /mp/

Syllabic alveolar /n/ can also be affected by a preceding bilabial or velar

consonant (progressive assimilation):

happen /hæpn/ > /hæpm/ alveolar nasal /n/ → bilabial nasal /m/
bacon /beɪkn/ > /beıkŋ/ alveolar nasal /n/ → velar nasal /ŋ/

It is important to remember that these assimilations involving place of articulation are

not obligatory. They are normally the result of fluency.

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2.1. The alveolar fricatives /s/ and /z/
The alveolar fricatives /s/ and /z/ assimilate phonemically in only one direction, to the
equivalent post-alveolar fricatives /ʃ/ and ʒ/. This is because /s, z, ʃ, ʒ/ are all sibilant
sounds, while the remaining fricatives are not. Remember here that assimilation means
that phonemes become more similar to each other, and a change from sibilant to non-
sibilant sound would not make the pronunciation more fluent.

Place
Manner Bilabial Labio- Dental Alveolar Post- Palatal Velar Glottal
dental alveolar
Fricatives s z ʃ ʒ

RULE 3: An alveolar fricative will change to post-alveolar when it is followed by

either a post-alveolar fricative (/ʃ/ or /ʒ/) or the palatal approximant /j/.

Fortis alveolar fricative /s/ → fortis post-alveolar fricative /ʃ/ before /ʃ/ or /j/
this shop RP /ðɪs ʃɒp/ > /ðɪʃ ʃɒp/ /s/ → /ʃ/
this shop AE /ðɪs ʃɑ:p/ > /ðɪʃ ʃɑ:p/ /s/ → /ʃ/

this year RP /ðɪs jɪə/ > /ðɪʃ jɪə/ /s/ → /ʃ/

this year AE /ðɪs jɪr/ > /ðɪʃ jɪr/ /s/ → /ʃ/

Lenis alveolar fricative /z/ → lenis post-alveolar fricative /ʒ/ before /ʃ/ or /j/
has she /hæz ʃi/ > /hæʒ ʃi/ /z/ → /ʒ/
(he) sees you /si:z ju/ > /si:ʒ ju/ /z/ → /ʒ/

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3. Assimilation affecting force of articulation

This type of assimilation is commonly referred to as fortis/lenis assimilation. As the

name suggests, only force of articulation will be affected in this type of assimilation.

Remember here that fortis refers to obstruents that are always voiceless, while lenis
refers to obstruents that are typically voiced.

Regressive assimilation
We have some examples of regressive assimilation, that is, when a word-final lenis
obstruent becomes fortis because of the influence of a following word-initial fortis
consonant. This type of assimilation normally takes place across word boundaries;
there must, however, be a fairly close semantic and syntactic connection between the
two words (across word boundaries).

have to /hæv tu/ > /hæf tu/ labio-dental fricatives /v/ → /f/

had to /hæd tu/ > /hæt tu/ alveolar plosives /d/ → /t/

has to /hæz tu/ > /hæs tu/ alveolar fricatives /z/ → /s/

of course RP /əv kɔ:s/ > /əf kɔ:s/ labio-dental fricatives /v/ → /f/

of course AE /əv kɔ:rs/ > /əf kɔ:rs/ labio-dental fricatives /v/ → /f/

Progressive assimilation
Assimilation that affects force of articulation is, however, mainly progressive, and
normally has to do with the pronunciation of the past tense -ed ending of verbs and the
inflectional -s ending. The way these morphemes/inflections/endings are pronounced
depends on whether the preceding sound is voiceless or voiced. This relates to
assimilation within words and not across word boundaries.

Assimilation affecting force of articulation is obligatory in English speech.

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3.1. Pronunciation of past tense -ed in English (obligatory)
This verbal ending is used to signal past tense.

• It is pronounced lenis (voiced) /d/ when the infinitive ends in a voiced sound.
• It is pronounced fortis (voiceless) /t/ when the infinitive ends in a voiceless sound

/d/ to lie /laɪ/ ends in a vowel/aɪ/ (voiced) lied /laɪd/

to kill /kɪl/ ends in voiced /l/ killed /kɪld/

/t/ to rap /ræp/ ends in voiceless /p/ rapped /ræpt/

to kick /kɪk/ ends in voiceless /k/ kicked /kɪkt/

to mash /mæʃ/ ends in voiceless /ʃ/ mashed /mæʃt/

When the infinitive ends in /t/ or /d/ we cannot add another /t/ or /d/ to signal past
without first adding a vowel. In RP this is /ɪ/ and in AE it is /ə/. Because vowels are
voiced the final past tense consonant will always be voiced /d/.

RP AE

acted /æktɪd/ /æktəd/

sided /saɪdɪd/ /saɪdəd/

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3.2. Pronunciation of the inflectional -s in English (obligatory)
Inflectional -s is used to signal three grammatical categories:

1. The noun plural two birds

2. The verbal third person singular she sings
3. The genitive (possessive) Tim’s book

When the word-stem ends in a voiced sound the inflection is lenis /z/.
When the word-stem ends in a voiceless sound the inflection is fortis /s/

/z/ stem shoe ends in vowel /u:/ noun plural shoes /ʃu:z/

stem annoy ends in vowel /ɔɪ/ 3rd person singular annoys /ənɔɪz/

stem bell ends in voiced /l/ noun plural bells /belz/

/s/ stem fleet ends in voiceless /t/ noun plural fleets /fli:ts/

stem helps ends in voiceless /s/ 3rd person singular helps /helps/
stem Beth ends in voiceless /θ/ genitive Beth’s /beθs/

When the stem ends in a sibilant obstruent (/s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ʧ, ʤ/) we must insert a vowel
before we can add /s/ or /z/. In RP this is /ɪ/ and in AE it is /ə/. Because a vowel is
always voiced the inflection will always be voiced /z/.

RP /ɪz/ AE /əz/

buzzes /bʌzɪz/ /bʌzəz/

buses /bʌsɪz/ /bʌsəz/

rushes /rʌʃɪz/ /rʌʃəz/

horses /hɔ:sɪz/ /hɔ:rsəz/

itches /ɪtʃɪz/ /ɪtʃəz/

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4. Assimilation affecting manner of articulation

This type of assimilation is fairly uncommon and is mostly a characteristic of quite fast
speech. Normally, changes in manner of articulation involve nasality.

good night /gʊd naɪt/ > /gʊn naɪt/ /d/ → /n/

good morning RP /gʊd mɔ:nɪŋ/ > /gʊm mɔ:nɪŋ/ /d/ → /m/

good morning AE /gʊd mɔ:rnɪŋ/ > /gʊm mɔ:rnɪŋ/ /d/ → /m/

Here the lenis alveolar plosive /d/ becomes (lenis) alveolar nasal /n/ when followed
by nasal /n/, and bilabial lenis nasal /m/ when followed by nasal /m/.

A word-final lenis labio-dental fricative /v/ may become bilabial nasal /m/ when the
next word starts with the bilabial nasal /m/:

you can have mine /ju kən hæv maɪn/ > /ju kæn hæm maɪn/ /v/ → /m/

5. Coalescence

This is a different kind of assimilation in which both the affected consonants change and
blend into one consonant different from both of them. This type of assimilation normally
involves the palatal approximant /j/ and is therefore often referred to as palatalization.

don’t you dare RP /dəʊnt jə deə/ > /dəʊntʃə deə/

don’t you dare AE /doʊnt jə der/ > /doʊntʃə der/

would you mind /wʊd jə maɪnd/ > /wʊʤə maɪnd/

I miss you /aɪ mɪs ju/ > /aɪ mɪʃu/

Here we see that the word-final alveolar sounds /t, d, s/ blend with the initial /j/ of the
following word to produce the corresponding post-alveolar sounds /tʃ/, /dʒ/ and /ʃ/.
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6. Summary

We can thus make speech more fluent and effortless by assimilating sounds. When we
assimilate sounds, we use less energy as sounds become more similar. When, for
example, alveolar /t/ becomes bilabial /p/ because of a following bilabial sound, our
articulators “skip” one step: instead of first placing the tongue against the alveolar ridge
for /t/, our articulators go straight to “bilabial position” for /p/ and /b/.

Example: RP /hɒt meɪl/ > /hɒp meɪl/ AE /hɑ:t meɪl/ > /hɑ:p meɪl/

There are three main types of assimilation:

1. assimilation affecting place of articulation

2. assimilation affecting force of articulation
3. assimilation affecting manner of articulation (very uncommon and restricted)

In addition, coalescence is a type of assimilation in which two sounds blend into a third
sound.

Please note that for types 1, 2 and 3 it will only be one of the labels (place, force, or
manner) that is affected. For example, when a /t/ changes into /p/ because of a
following /m/ we are dealing with assimilation that only affects place of articulation.
Force and manner stay unchanged: both the original /t/ and the assimilated /p/ are
voiceless plosives.

Also note that it is the alveolar sounds /t, d, n, s, z/ that are most commonly assimilated.

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